Quiet Magics
by GundamAce
Summary: Poor Ranma just can't help himself when it comes to being the hero. Now he's stepping in to help out a magical girl in distress. What could possibly go wrong? Ranma/SM
1. Chapter 1

Quiet Magics

Chapter 1 – First Meetings

Maybe walking home wasn't her best idea. Granted, home was less than a mile away, but it was getting dark and she probably should have called Haruka-papa like Chibiusa had suggested.

Hotaru stopped and leaned against the lamp post next to her, catching her breath. If she was going to be completely honest with herself, she had to admit that it wasn't the encroaching night that was bothering her. She and her surrogate family had plenty of experience roaming the moonlit streets of Juban.

No, it was the mostly uphill hike that was the problem. How Chbiusa, with her short legs, managed to find the energy to practically bounce up this path and not end up passing out when she got to Setsuna-Mama's house was a mystery. Hell, how any of her friends managed to make the trip giggling and smiling the whole way was an infernal mystery.

Thus the chilling stubbornness in Hotaru's bearing when Chibiusa had noticed the setting sun and guiltily suggested that maybe it would be best to have Haruka-papa drive over. Fixing up that little episode was going to have to be a priority. Her tiny, but entirely overly energized friend had only been trying to help. She certainly didn't deserve the treatment she got for it.

"Okay, so I stop and catch my breath for a few minutes, and hopefully Usa decided to call home anyway," the sometimes Senshi said out loud to nobody. "Then I call her when I get home and apologize for being so cold with her." Sinking to the cement in the flickering glow of the streetlight, Hotaru rested, hoping that she'd see a familiar 2000GT convertible cruising down the street any second now.

Minutes passed and no yellow sports cars materialized. Drat. She had really been hoping that this would have been one of those times her friend decided to be over-protective. Oh well, no more rest for the weary. With a grunt, Hotaru pulled herself back to her feet and turned to continue home.

A single stride brought her to the edge of the pool of light in which she'd taken sanctuary, but a dreadful coldness in her heart stopped her before she could cross into the darkness. The once comforting twilight had changed somehow, and suddenly the curtain of florescent illumination seemed an insufficient barrier against the lurking shadows of an ominously deserted commercial district.

Hotaru's hand slipped into her jacket pocket, clutching the gem hidden within. She hadn't needed to call upon its power in months. She didn't relish the thought of doing so now either, but some sinister force was twisting the silence of this street to its own end. Whatever it was, it was in for a nasty surprise. Glancing about, Hotaru withdrew the Saturn Crystal. The silence belonged to the Senshi of Saturn, and she wasn't about to let some misguided spirit steal it away for wicked purposes.

"Saturn Crystal Power! Make-Up!"

The shout of the transformation phrase woke the dormant gem, which answered the call by bursting into a luminous starburst of violet streamers. The radiant bands flowed around the teen's body obscuring her metamorphosis. Moments later the ribbons of liquid light drifted away into the darkness, revealing the cold beauty of the sailor suited Guardian of Destruction holding, in the hand that had just gripped the crystal, the ultimate symbol of her office, the dreaded scythe of death herself, the Silence Glaive.

"Impressive," an ominous voice hissed through the darkness. "I hadn't thought to find such tempting power in so deliciously innocent a package." The rasping voice seemed to echo from all around.

Deep within the recesses of Saturn's mind, the girl who was still Hotaru wanted to tremble and hide at the vile sound, but the overpowering forces of Life and Death which commanded her remained unmoved. Senshi Saturn might as well have been sculpted from ice, her still form radiating chill menace.

"I am the Bringer of Endings, Guardian of Life and Death, Keeper of the Silence." Whatever tremors of fear Hotaru might have felt didn't resonate in the deathly voice of her Senshi form. "In the name of the Silence I command you, show yourself."

And so he did. A shadow broke away from the lesser darkness around it and drifted nearer to the pool of light. He was taller than the guardian, and at ease even in spite of the divine aura that she projected. He was wrapped in a cloak of midnight hues which hid much of his form, but the face that peered out from beneath his hood revealed more than any would ever care to know about the manner of his shape. Loose grey skin hung lifelessly about his skull. His worn and corpse-like visage was held in a grotesque parody of paternal indulgence by muscles that strained with the continence of rigormortis. The gleam of his yellowing eyes despoiled mirth with its ghastly imitation.

"My little corner of Hell is not so insulated that I would not know who you are, World Reaper. I am the Scion of Fear, he who serves the will of the Lord of the Ninth." His ghoulish smile widened with the introduction, displaying a rotting maw of razor sharp needles.

"You are not welcome in this plane, devil. Return to your pits."

"Ah, but you see Death Mistress, that is where you are wrong. I was invited to this plane. I come at the urgent request of one who was willing to pay the price for my services." The devil's eyes shone in the streetlight, casting an eerie glow of their own.

The part of the senshi that was still Hotaru felt the gaze sink into Saturn's flesh and fall upon her. A flicker of true joy sparkled within Fear's insidious yellow orbs and the girl inside felt horrifically exposed in spite of the great power that owned her. Her spirit tried to shudder uncontrollably beneath the mantle of Saturn's undeniable strength.

"Who brought you here?" her icy alter ego demanded. "What purpose have they set you upon?"

"Oh, now that would be telling. Suffice it to say that you aren't the one I've been sent to find. Now that our paths have crossed, however, perhaps I shall relieve you of the burden of your office!" Fear exploded into sudden motion, reaching out from his cloak with cadaverous hands coursing with inky black bolts of power.

Saturn leapt clear of the dark lightning as it decimated the streetlight she had been standing under. Her landing brought her within striking range of the devil and the Silence Glaive lashed out in a blur. Unfortunately the deadly blade met only air. Fear had vanished utterly, leaving the lethal senshi apparently alone in the darkness.

The guardian adopted a defensive posture and slowly rotated, scanning the shadows for her attacker. Deep within her mind, Hotaru continued to weep in terror. The monster's presence had not abated with his apparent departure.

The blasted husk of the lamp post continued to crackle with slowly dissipating tendrils of electrical power, and the air was heavy with the stench of ozone and corpse-flesh, but in the creeping darkness there was no hint as to the devil's position.

Saturn felt the attack mere heartbeats before the shower of eldritch bolts streaked out of the night. She spun and slammed the butt of her weapon into the sidewalk. "Silent Wall!"

Streamers of dark fire battered against the shadowy dome of force that Saturn had erected. They were strong… far stronger than the guardian would have anticipated, and they did not abate as Fear peeled himself once more from the surrounding night.

The devil had a single bony hand raised, holding aloft a pulsating orb of dark energy that spilled fourth hellish lightning into the Silent Wall. He glided forward effortlessly, seemingly unhindered with maintaining his attack. "Your power is impressive, Guardian, but it will ultimately prove impotent. As mighty as you are, you still require the soul of that little girl to maintain your existence, and she will soon despair so thoroughly that her energies will be useless to you. Even now her panic robs you of your full potential."

Under the onslaught of the hellstorm, Saturn felt her knees beginning to buckle. The devil was right. Hotaru's spirit was becoming too unfocused, too afraid. There was no physical force that the Guardian of Silence could not overcome, but the aura of unnatural terror this creature was generating attacked the mind of her host directly. Eventually Hotaru would lose the will to defend herself and the floodgates of power that allowed Saturn to exist would close completely, leaving a defenseless girl at the mercy of Fear itself. As it was, it was all the Senshi could do to maintain her barrier.

The devil began to chuckle. Saturn's eyes darted about the abandoned street, hoping to find some path of escape. Hotaru's gibbering was growing more insistent. Her spirit was beginning to seep through the frosty grip of the Guardian's might. In moments the dome would…

BOOM! An explosion of cerulean light plowed into the devil's flank, splashing against the dome with heated intensity. As the flash abated Saturn saw that Fear had been knocked back several meters. He stood uninjured, but his dreadful attack had ceased. His gaze was no longer upon her, but rather turned upward towards the roof of the building behind her.

The Guardian of Silence turned towards the source of the indigo blast as well, expecting to find one of her fellow senshi poised to deliver judgment upon the devil. What she saw was no senshi.

For a startled moment both the Senshi and Hotaru were in complete agreement. Whoever their savior was, he was clearly the most gorgeous man that had ever existed. He stood balanced on the corner of the building, dressed in a thread-bare red silk tang and black slacks, juggling in one hand three small pebbles that glowed with cobalt fire. He seemed the very picture of relaxed grace and careless power. His dark braid fluttered in the wind behind him and his cocky smile sparkled with inexplicable amusement. Surely he was some great god of myth and legend, come to save the day and then sweep a lonely girl off her feet in a whirlwind romance.

"Hey ugly! Why don't you leave the little cheerleader alone and try picking on someone more your speed?"

Okay, so maybe he wasn't exactly prince charming, Hotaru amended, but that didn't make him any less easy on the eyes.

* * *

From his perch, Ranma scanned the battlefield below. One pretty girl in need of rescuing, check. One pissed off demon in need of a beating, check. One appropriately flashy entrance, check. Looks like the start of another interesting night.

"So, it seems you are the one to find me," Big ugly hissed. "This is the second time tonight I've been unexpectedly impressed, Mr. Saotome. Most humans aren't nearly so willing to walk into their demise."

Ranma stopped juggling his ki charged pebbles and took a closer look at the monster below. "Do I know you?"

"No," it smiled, "but you know the one who sent me. Happosai sends his regards."

Ranma hung his head dejectedly. What was it going to take to get those crazies back in Nermia to catch a clue? Ah well, at least the cute magical girl was taking the opportunity to get some breathing room.

Suddenly the monster's form blurred towards him. Ranma tossed the ki charged pebbles at his feet and leapt high into the air. The resulting explosion left the corner of the building a mess of shrapnel and dust. The black form of Mr. Ugly fell hard to the pavement below as the world's greatest martial arts protégé ascended to the top of his parabolic arc.

Caught off guard, and dazed by the blast, the poor sucker didn't even have time to realize that nearly two meters of unadulterated pain had angled itself for a collision course and was now inbound at terminal velocity.

Ranma's fist crashed into the top of the devil's head like a comet, sending the hideous servant of the hells back into the asphalt with a satisfying crunch. Ranma, in the mean time, took the opportunity to spring backwards off of its now dented skull in a one handed vault that put him squarely between the monster and its earlier victim.

"You okay?" He spared a quick glance back at the girl while he readied himself for round two. After all, Happy's little friends never went down with the first hit. The girl didn't answer, but rather assumed her own combat stance behind him, raising that wicked looking pole-arm in a defensive posture.

The creature snickered as it pulled its head out of the broken road. That was never a good sign. "I see the old fool was not exaggerating your prowess young warrior. Perhaps I should not take you so lightly!" With that, the form blurred again, lashing out in a whirlwind of viscous strikes at the pigtailed youth.

Ranma, for his part, was impressed. This thing was _fast_! Even with the amaguriken training the walking corpse was pressing him hard. A swirling aura of frustration and anger slowly started to build around the devil. Ranma smirked. It was the perfect setup for the Hiryu Shoten…

Before Ranma could complete the thought, his opponent disengaged and funneled his aura into the ground. The resulting explosion of heat and force flung the martial artist like a ragdoll into the face of a nearby store.

In his dazed state, Ranma could barely sense the dark bolts that were hurtling down range. Fortunately the pole-arm wielding magical girl decided to step in when he stepped out, so the blasts were a bit wide of their mark.

The pigtailed youth fell from the martial arts shaped crater in the brick wall and pulled himself carefully back to his feet, attempting to shake off the dizziness caused by the impact.

Down the street Mr. Ugly and the dark haired girl were stuck in a stalemate. The girl was managing to keep ahead of her opponent's ki lightning but the blasts were preventing her from closing in near enough to make that pointy stick of hers worth using.

It looked like it was time to play the hero again. With a self satisfied grin, Saotome once again erupted in cobalt blue ki-fire. Widening his stance, Ranma gathered his confidence for his signature attack. Between his cupped hands, the flickering of spiritual energy intensified into a sphere of brilliant light.

"Moko Takabisha!"

The destructive orb of spiritual energy rocketed down range towards its ghoulish target. Once more the night lit up with azure brilliance, this time sending the hell spawn through the window of an electronics shop across the street.

The purple skirted magical girl spared a cool glance over her shoulder at the pigtailed teen that was running up to the scene of the last melee.

"Hey," Ranma said as he pulled up along side his latest damsel in distress. "I thought all you magical girl types worked in teams. When's the back-up getting here?"

The girl considered Saotome out of the corner of her eye. "I have no reason to believe they are aware of this situation."

"Oh, well then I guess it's just us. No problem, we'll just-" A lance of black energy shot from the store front and slammed into road between the two teens, blasting them away from each other.

Ranma managed to recover in mid-air, landing lightly several meters away. The girl was not so lucky. She had landed poorly and skull-face was making her pay for the error with bolt after bolt of dark ki.

The girl tumbled wildly over the broken blacktop trying to stay ahead of the blasts, and while she had managed not to take any direct hits, the concussive force was whipping her around like a windsock in a hurricane.

Ranma raced after her tumbling form, blasting his own ki into the pavement in an effort to create a smokescreen. Finally amidst the hail of random bolts of power, Ranma managed to scoop the girl up and twist the both of them into a more controlled evasion.

As the young martial artist attempted to angle their tumbling into some semblance of cover, the girl lashed out at the ground with the butt end of her weapon and shouted out "Silent Wall!" Their roll came to an abrupt halt, and Ranma found himself inside the dark dome that the girl had been hiding behind earlier.

Bolts of power continued to rain on the structure, turning the street outside to molten tar. Inside, however, the din of the blasts was strangely muted. The girl breathed heavily and tried to get her feet under her. That last round hadn't gone so well for her. The skirt she wore was frayed into tatters and her legs and arms were covered in deep cuts and angry red abrasions.

Ranma watched her turn her head to check on him, giving him full view of the extent of the damage she'd taken. Her lip was split and one eye was slowly swelling shut. In the twilight of the dome he could see for the first time the utter panic behind her frosty gaze. The temperature dropped and a cold fog began to form in the confines of the magical shelter. A good fight was one thing, but Saotome would be damned if he let the mess that was his life hurt someone else.

"Prepare yourself. If it can't harm us physically, it will attempt to attack our minds. You must…" Whatever she was about to say died on her lips. The panic locked behind her cool indifference bubbled to the surface in great waves, forcing her to turn her head towards the source of the spiritual attack.

Then Ranma felt _it_. A choking weed of terror dug its way through his Soul of Ice technique, trying to rob him of his senses. It was powerful. The darkness of the dome seemed to intensify and the shadowed whispers of mewling and hissing began to echo amongst the dull thudding of the arcane bolts that slammed against the side of his dark prison.

Had he not already been channeling the Soul of Ice, he would have fallen immediately to the fear of the Neko-ken. As it was, Saotome redoubled his efforts to deaden his emotions into impenetrable frost.

The purple clad girl who had erected the dome sat transfixed by the demon outside, literally shaking now in terror. The trim of her uniform began to fray into luminous threads of violet light that were caught in a phantom breeze and blown away. The poor girl clung to the shaft of her weapon weeping openly in despair. Ranma saw the hopeless, broken agony in her and the Soul of Ice snapped back into place. Cold fury burned away the last visages of fear, leaving only icy killing intent.

"Your resistance to my power is incredible boy," the demon laughed, "but it will make no difference in the end. There is no escape from the trap that the Senshi of Destruction inadvertently placed you in. In moments her powers will fail utterly and you will be eradicated from existence by my Hellfire Storm. The outcome has always been inevitable."

The creature was right, relentless bombardment of the crumbling dome had left the street a sea of bubbling, raging hellfire. No creature could withstand the swirling vortex of heat for long. Saffron had thought the same thing. A maliciously cold smile spread across Saotome's face.

"Hiryu…" It began like the whisper of steel leaving the scabbard as he raised his arm towards the demon.

"Hyo…" The syllables tumbled from Ranma's mouth like the first stones of an avalanche as his fist opened.

"TOPPA!"

In a deafening roar, Saotome's frozen aura lashed out at the swirling maelstrom of the devil's Hellfire storm. A spinning beam of cold rage erupted from the palm of Ranma's outstretched hand ripping through the protective dome and slamming into the chest of the creature beyond.

The bombardment cease. The dome failed. The mysterious girl who had erected it to begin with lay on the ground next to her fearsome weapon, all but spent. The bubbling tarmac hissed and churned as snow crystals drifted down in the wake of the most devastating technique in the pigtailed warrior's arsenal. Across the scarred and pitted field, the devil known as Fear gaped in open mouth astonishment at the frozen hole in his chest.

It looked up, putrid orbs of yellow hellfire met frozen pools of cerulean rage. The demon then loosed a savage roar into the sky, shattering the few windows that had survived the conflict thus far. The frozen wound in its chest burst open, spilling fourth a hideous puss that filled the gaping crevasse.

"You!" Its hate filled gaze snapped back onto the lone remaining combatant. "You pitiful mortal scum! You dare to challenge me! I am Fear Itself! Barron of the Despairing Wastes! I shall crush you!"

Ranma ignored the ranting devil and knelt next to the girl that he had tried to save… that tried to save him… "Are you alright?"

"I… I c… can't maintain…" She was curled into a fetal position, trembling with fear and exertion.

Ranma brushed a few stray locks of her ebony hair from her face tenderly. "You just rest. I've got this."

He stepped over her still trembling form and stared down the panting Barron of the Ninth Hell. His hand reached out, gripping the shaft of the weapon that was still standing upright in the now cooling street. It lapped at his cold ki hungrily, trying to harness the dreadful power it sensed. Ranma clamped down hard on the flows of his own life force. The blade was a tool, nothing more. He wouldn't be defeated by it, nor by the demon before him, nor by anything else in creation.

"You," The young warrior's voice hissed. "I think I've had just about enough of you." Ranma jerked the glaive free of its molten prison and both he and the demon blurred towards one another.

* * *

Hotaru was lost. She knew it in her heart. The Guardian of Silence all but begged her to get up… to fight. The girl shook harder. This was hell. She was in hell. She would boil in a lake of molten tar for the rest of eternity. Her friends and family had abandoned her to the clutches of the devil Fear. Even the Guardian Spirit that wielded Silence would, in moments, abandon her. There was no salvation. The heat and smoke and crushing fear seared her flesh. It was over…

And then… then there was blessed coolness. Had she died before the fiend could take her? Hotaru forced her will upon the Guardian and looked up. She was still lying on the field of battle, but the torrent of fire and anguish had ended. Flakes of snow drifted down into the rapidly cooling ground, quenching the aching wound in the earth.

"Are you alright?" The voice was salvation… a soothing balm. How should she answer? How did one explain what it was like to be pulled from the pits of hell? The Guardian wrestled with her for control and managed to squeeze out some lame answer. What did she say?

A hand touched her brow. It was cool… soothing… tender. Her tremors abated. "You just rest. I've got this." It was the voice again… that merciful, blessed voice. He had saved her when nobody else could. She couldn't just abandon him now.

He stepped past her… stood before her… between her and the devil. Fear was howling and ranting in the distance. It's dreadful influence washing over the scarred ground.

"You," the voice whispered. It was a sound filled with the promise of cold justice. "I think I've had just about enough of you." Perhaps Usagi didn't really understand the concept, or her voice would sound exactly like that when she told the forces of darkness that they would be punished.

The earth before Hotaru gave way as the glaive was ripped free of the molten ground, and then the battle was joined. Midway down the field, two unstoppable forces of nature collided in an explosion of palpable fury.

Where Fear lashed out the world around was annihilated in a tumult of fire and lightning. Burning rage and hate swept from his corpse-like form in a terrible dance of destruction.

But her savior; by the gods, what was he? The Silence glaive leapt and danced in his hands like a living thing. Wisps of frost trailed in his wake. Where his strikes landed the burning ground froze instantly solid, spreading tendrils of ice, like deadly serpents, at his opponent. He was an avenging angel. He was a god made flesh. No mortal being could be so brave, so deadly, so in control. Even her Guardian hadn't been able to fight like that.

At the thought of her, the Guardian rallied once more against Hotaru's control. The girl relented. She was weak and tired and her avenging angel needed real help. With great pain and effort, the Harbinger of Silence forced herself to her feet.

At the far end of the field the flames and the frost, the earth and the sky had all become one. The beautiful, chaotic spectacle was a microcosm of the birth of the universe. And in the center of the dreadful storm of whirling earth, fire, and ice, two beings fought; battering and carving away at each other; burning and freezing one another in turn. For a moment the Guardian understood her host's thoughts and was humbled.

And then the awesome display of power reached its crescendo. Even the Guardian couldn't perceive the slight misstep that had turned the tide, but she saw clearly the result. The young warrior flew from the battle in one direction; the Silence Glaive sailed off in another. The first crashed painfully into a pile of rubble while the second clattered against the pock-marked earth meters away.

The devil stalked the fallen warrior, blasting fire and lightning into the crater where he landed. This then was truly the end. Fear had won. Its contract had been satisfied and its freedom to roam this plain had been earned. What was worse, the Senshi of Silence hadn't the power to escape. The devil would claim Hotaru, and with her the power to destroy worlds. There was only one hope for salvation. The only blessing was that there was nobody to witness the sad end of this age.

The Guardian stumbled for her discarded weapon, staggering on unsteady feet. For a moment, the presence of Hotaru had gone silent, shocked numb at the dashing of her hopes. But as the Guardian shambled across the field, the anguish of the girl inside made itself known.

Hotaru's presence surged forward, trying to claim control of their shared body. He couldn't be dead. He just couldn't! It was a mistake. They had to help him. They had to save him. For a split second she managed to gain control of a leg, one leg, just enough to take a half step towards the carnage at the distant end of the war torn street.

The Senshi of Saturn pitched uncontrollably at the loss of balance and fell. She struggled to pull herself up, managing only to drag herself along the ground, closer and closer to the instrument of dark salvation. Her hand reached out for it. Her fingers brushed the cool metal surface of its shaft.

The blade sprang unsuspectingly to life, skittering out of Saturn's tenuous grasp and hurtling itself towards the crater where the doom of the world was being laid bare.

* * *

"You pitiful ant!" Fear yelled as he released another bolt of hellfire into the ruin of his opponent. "Did you really think you could defy ME!"

Ranma lay dazed in the blasted and bubbling crater. The Soul of Ice had failed when he'd crashed, and with it his protection from the scorching heat. His body burned in agony like it hadn't done since Jusendo.

Was this it? Was this the end of the great Ranma Saotome? Another blast of lightning wracked his failing body. All his rivals, all his challenges, did he die in a ditch at the hands of some fiend he'd never even met before?

"I told you that the outcome of this fight was inevitable," The beast gloated over another round of ki based lightning. "You were fated to lose to me."

Lose? Is that what was happening? Ranma struggled for coherent thought. Something about that statement wasn't right. Was he losing? It sure felt like it. Insane martial artists couldn't beat him, dragons fell in his wake, and even the gods couldn't stand against his strength.

A faint blue glow began to emanate from the broken form of the martial artist. Impossibly he began to laugh through the seizures and coughing.

"Have I broken you at last, young warrior?" The devil pondered as he considered the shaking mass of the inexplicably amused martial artist. "Perhaps it's time we end this little game."

Ranma's eyes opened. "…couldn't… Couldn't agree more." Ranma reached out his hand.

"Are you really going to attack me now?" Fear scoffed. "Do you honestly still think you can win?"

The faint aura around the boy leeched across the ground, slithering silently from the crater like a ghost. "Aint… you heard? R… Ranma Saotome don't… lose!"

With that the creeping tendril of ki latched onto the hungry blade of the Silence Glave. Saotome yanked for all he was worth, flinging the heft of the lethal weapon across the ground by force of will alone. The shaft pitched across the battlefield and flung itself into the waiting hand of the battered martial artist. Its hunger was intense and he couldn't resist it this time. He didn't intend to. Ranma remembered every rival, every triumph, every impossible victory snatched from the jaws of utter defeat. This battle would be added to that list like all the others.

The Silence Glaive drank deeply of Ranma's confidence. The blade of the most lethal weapon in creation lit with indigo flame. "Ultimate…" the blade arced towards the Barron of the Ninth. "Moko…" The force of perfect confidence gathered at the blade's tip.

"Takabisha!"

Everything that Ranma ever was lept from the Glaive in a razor thin lance of pure blue light. The beam traced a path across Fear's frame from the edge of his putrid left thigh to the tip of his rotting right shoulder.

The two forces locked eyes with one another. For several seconds nothing happened. Fear began to laugh his triumph, watching the fading ember of Ranma's ki burn away with the effort of keeping him conscious. Then the bottom of the midnight cloak fell away, drifting to the scorched earth like a leaf on the wind.

"You were right." Ranma whispered. "The outcome… it was always inevitable." Yellow hellfire seeped from a perfectly straight line across the devil's torso, following the path of Ranma's final, ultimate attack. Its twisted body fell into two, each half being consumed by the flames contained within. In the end, all that was left of Fear was dust. Ranma collapsed against the cooling earth and waited for death to claim him. His record would remain un-diminished.

* * *

Hotaru watched from the ground as the final, epic blow fell. As the devil burned, her eyes locked for a split second with the azure orbs of the impossible hero who had saved her. Then he collapsed, unmoving, back into the crater from which he had summoned the Silence Glaive and used it to cut down a Barron of the Ninth Hell.

In utter awe, Hotaru crawled to the hero's resting place. His chest had stilled. Panic clutched at Hotaru's heart. He couldn't be dead. Not after all that. Not after saving her so completely.

She reached out to him, put her hands on his lifeless chest, and poured her soul into him, trying to fan whatever spark of life remained in his still form. She felt herself fading, growing so close to lifelessness herself. If it took her own life to save his, then so be it.

Darkness started to creep around the edges of her vision. There was a thump beneath her hands; then another. Slowly a rhythm built. His chest lifted slightly and fell. She let go.

Hotaru tried to lift herself off of the boy, but found that she couldn't. Had she spent more energy than she could afford? Would she die here after all? As her vision continued to fade, she rode the steady rise and fall of his chest, comforted by the fact that he, at least, would survive.

Absently she noted that the Guardian had left her. When had that happened? He had caught her eye before falling into his near death. Had he seen her change? If he did, would he remember? It didn't matter. He would live and if there was enough of her soul left for her own recovery, then she would deal with the consequences later.

Off in the darkness she heard the roar of an engine and the squeal of breaks. Light flooded the devastated street making it look more like the crater strewn surface of some dead world than a place where only hours ago people had lived and worked.

Someone screamed her name in the distance…

Haruka-papa…

Usa must have called after all…

* * *

Author's notes – Since my original posting, I've changed some elements of the ending to add a bit more suspense to the next chapter.


	2. Chapter 2

Quiet Magics

Chapter 2 – The Mysterious Savior

What had happened? Haruka slammed the clutch and shifted into third. The RPM needle dropped back down to reasonable levels, but it wasn't staying there for long. The 2000GT ripped through the moonlit corridors of Juban in a yellow streak, narrowly avoiding the blessedly thinning traffic.

"Ha… Haruka, don't you think you should slow down just a bit?" Michiru stuttered over the increasing roar of the engine.

Haruka cut a quick glance to the passenger seat. Her lover had one hand braced against the dash and the other squeezing into the side of the leather bucket seat in a white knuckled death grip; her green hair whipped wildly behind her in the wind. The violinist's eyes, already the size of dinner plates, suddenly grew much larger.

Tires screamed in outrage as Haruka forced the vehicle to into a tight swerve; narrowly avoiding two cars crossing an intersection that her little sports car legally had no right to be in. The indignant bleat of horns dropped into the background with a pronounced Doppler shift. Damn jerks, this was an emergency! Besides, she'd missed them by a quarter of a meter easy.

Third was shifted into fourth, and in the momentary drop in revs Haruka could hear her poor lover hyperventilating next to her. In the distance ahead, flashes of indigo light sprouted like fireworks between a narrow row of buildings and more peals of thunder struggled to make their might heard over the snarl of the six cylinder beast racing through the darkness.

What the hell had happened? Usa had called them just minutes ago… She'd wanted to speak to Hotaru… to apologize for some silly fight. She'd said Hotaru had left almost half an hour earlier. Even Hotaru could make it home in that amount of time!

Fourth gear shifted into fifth as the eldritch display in the distance finally began to quiet. Whatever was happening, it was coming to an end. How long had they been listening to those unnatural crashes of thunder? Haruka knew; she damn well _knew_ it wasn't the rumblings of some distant storm! Oh god, Hotaru, please, please be okay!

Haruka slammed on the breaks and dropped the gear back into first; spinning the wheel to angle her car onto the road that would take them to their daughter. The convertible slid like it was on ice as its driver punched the gas again. The tail end of the drift was still in progress when Haruka shifted up to second and tore down the deserted market side-street.

The stench of tar and ozone hung in the air, thickening with each shop that flew by. Up ahead, the broken husks of two buildings spilled their guts onto the smoldering street.

Once more Haruka slammed on the breaks, twisting the car into a spin as the dry asphalt gave way to semi-molten tar. Chunks of steaming pitch flew as the yellow convertible bled its considerable inertia and finally came to a dead stop. Where once there had been a quiet market, now there was a wilderness of rubble strewn craters. They had arrived.

"Hotaru!" Haruka bellowed as she deftly released her safety harness and leapt over the 2000GT's door. Her feet sank nearly a centimeter into the ruined pavement as she landed. The choking tar of the blacktop clung to her sneakers as she took several wild steps into the gutted plaza.

It was horrible. In places the ruined landscape seemed an untamed frozen sea. Waves of liquid turf had stilled as they broke, producing an un-earthly mosaic of organic forms reaching for the sky. In other spots the ground still hissed and bubbled, belching fourth the nauseating stench of molten pitch.

"H… Hotaru…" How could anything have survived the forging of this alien place? Dumbfounded, Haruka looked back towards the car; towards Michiru. Her lover sat equally as stunned. The woman's mouth hung open as she slowly surveyed the hellish scene. She hadn't even removed her seatbelt yet.

"Michiru, you should transform. See if you can find…" Find what? Find the charred remains of their little girl? "…anything."

The words seemed to jar the shell-shocked senshi back into mobility. Slowly the teal-haired young woman nodded her understanding and began to unfasten her restraining device.

Haruka turned back to the ruin of the market and began to slowly pick her way across the treacherous ground. As she did so, she began to notice patterns in the cooling street. A booted foot had slipped at one point, pushing the soft road as if it were mud. A bit further away there was a perfect handprint pressed into the tarmac. The fingers were thick and callused… a man's hand… not Hotaru. Haruka still stared at it numbly. It must have burned terribly when it pushed into the molten asphalt.

A few steps farther brought the worried woman into a three meter wide perfect circle of still recognizable road. The pavement here had been cracked and scored in some places but it hadn't been reduced to slag. Haruka knelt in the center of the great disk, her fingers tracing a gaping hole in a blasted section of asphalt.

Saturn's Silent Wall… That's what saved this patch of ground. Hotaru had managed to transform. The thought sparked an ember of hope in Haruka. There wasn't much that could harm her adopted daughter when the mantle of Silence was upon her.

Somewhere behind her, Michiru called out her transformation phrase. The marine light of her magic blended briefly with the harsh glare of the car's headlights. Ominous shadows danced amongst the debris in harmony with the arcane display. That's when Haruka saw it.

Flesh… skin… scorched and raw and just red enough to be picked out from the dark mess of this place. Haruka picked up her pace, trying to plot out a route to the crumbled wall of a former electronics shop. Somewhere in the piled bricks and broken mortar there was a body. Oh God please let it be Hotaru… please let her be alive.

The sometimes senshi of Uranus skirted her way across the crumbling edifice towards the deep, smoking crater where she'd caught the glimmer of torn skin. The closer she drew to the spot, though, the more she preyed that it wasn't her daughter that she'd find within. There was a reek of charred meat which grew thicker as she approached, and the smaller craters strewn about the greater wreck were filled with tar that still boiled hotly. The marrow of Haruka's bones chilled to ice. Something… someone… had died in that crater.

Haruka's hand dove into the pocket of her jeans, clutching the gem hidden inside like a lifeline. Carefully she crept to the edge of the crumbling maw of earth, terrified of what she'd discover within.

Two silhouettes lay entwined, each ominously still. One was virtually unrecognizable beneath layers of dried pitch and oozing blood. The other was easier to identify.

Hotaru's unmoving body rested in the embrace of the other battered form; its bloodied arm draped across her back almost tenderly, as though to protect her from the carnage of this cursed place. Oh god, what had happened?

Haruka reached out, brushing the back of her daughter's denim jacket with the tips of trembling fingers. The form beneath her hand rose and fell almost imperceptibly. Relief flooded the anguished woman. They hadn't arrived too late.

"Michiru!" Haruka shouted over her shoulder. "Michiru! I've got her! Come quick!"

Haruka crouched into the blasted hole and examined the young couple within. Remarkably the other figure was also alive, albeit barely. His shallow breath played against her daughter's raven hair, causing a few strands of the short crop to shift slightly with each exhalation.

As morbidly adorable as their position was, they'd need to be separated. Haruka took careful hold of her daughter and slowly rolled her off of the man who held her. With murmured protest, the girl slipped out from under her companion's embrace and came to rest on her back.

"Oh, Hotaru…" The site was almost too much for Haruka to bear. The girl's lower lip had split open in a bloody crack and one eye had swollen completely shut. Tear tracks etched alabaster trails through the accumulated ash and grime that hid her otherwise porcelain beauty. Her limbs, too, seemed to have been thrashed and battered brutally.

The scion of Uranus glanced at the other figure. Apparently her daughter's injuries could have been worse, much worse. The young man's breath came out as strained wheezing, and the dried cascade of blood that caked his face and throat hinted at internal damage which only Hotaru's intervention could have mended. Even with her daughter's healing, his chest was still a mass of swollen lumps. Broken ribs remained at least, and if Hotaru's power gave out too quickly, perhaps even a punctured lung.

As the Sky Senshi probed the abused torso, the hand which had been so casually slung over her daughter's waist fell open, allowing a gem roughly the size of a hen's egg to tumble onto the stranger's chest. Haruka stared at it dumbly for several seconds before picking it up to examine it more closely.

The Saturn Crystal… What on earth was this guy doing with Hotaru's Saturn Crystal? Haruka considered the two teens again, trying to discern the events of the past half hour just from their unconscious forms. What the devil had happened here?

As Haruka contemplated the enigma of her daughter's newest companion, the Senshi of Neptune landed, wraith-like, beside her. "Is she…"

Haruka heard the stumble in her lover's unasked question as the woman tried to give voice to their shared fear. "She's fine, just asleep."

Michiru let out the breath she'd been holding since she landed. For a moment she stood transfixed by sight of her daughter. A siren in the distance broke her from the reverie. "The only thing I could find was a pack on the roof of the building. It doesn't look to have been there long."

Haruka smiled. "I wonder if it belongs to Hotaru's new boyfriend. You should have seen the way I found the two 'em, all cuddled up together."

Her partner smiled. "I'm not sure if this is the best time for teasing, love." Neptune reprimanded with a playful glance. "You should at least let her wake up first."

Haruka nodded, not taking her eyes off the resting form of her daughter. "You're right. I'm just glad she's not…"

"I know. Let's get her out of here." Michiru shivered. "There's something about this place… something not quite right."

"I've noticed. Help me get them to the car. You'll have to get his pack and make your way home on the rooftops."

"You want to take the young man too?" the senshi asked, confused. "Wouldn't it be better if we let the authorities take care of him?"

In answer Haruka tossed her daughter's crystal to the other woman. "It was in his hand."

"How… but… why?" Neptune gaped at the gem she had caught.

Haruka had to smirk at her partner's queer expression. "Not sure, but until we know, I think it's best if we hang on to this guy."

Michiru considered it for a second and then nodded once. "I'll get the pack on the way home."

* * *

The first thing she became aware of as her consciousness slowly resurfaced was a cool, soothing pressure tugging tenderly at her lip. She smiled, remembering the gentle touch of an angel lifting her anguished mind from the depths of hell. The thought of him made her feel warm and safe.

Briefly she entertained the fantasy of him gently nursing her injuries; her head resting on his lap as he brushed stray strands of hair from her face. She'd look up into his brilliant sapphire eyes and he'd smile that mysterious smile of his. His head would lean down towards hers… There lips would-

"Hotaru, are you blushing?"

Her eyes shot open in panic as she attempted to lift her head. Above her, where she'd imagined her mysterious protector, was the widely grinning visage of her adopted mother. "Michiru-mama! What are you doing here?"

The woman's smile broadened. "I live here, remember?"

A wave of displaced confusion washed over the young woman as recent memory pushed her fantasy aside. This was her bed. She was in her room at home. There'd been a fight… She _hurt_! Moaning in pain, Hotaru let her head fall back into her pillow.

"Try to rest, dear." Her mama resumed dabbing the cut on her swollen lip.

Hotaru groaned. She wasn't sure which was worse, her injuries or the embarrassment of being caught in a naughty fantasy by her mother.

"So, who is he?" her Michiru-mama asked conversationally as she continued her ministrations.

The young woman felt her cheeks begin to redden again. "I don't really know. He just sort of showed up."

The dabbing stopped. "You mean the young man you were so intimately entwined with earlier this evening?" Even without looking Hotaru could practically hear the smile bloom again in her mother's voice. "Haruka suspected as much. I didn't know you could work so fast."

Hotaru felt her face burning red once again. Damn her treacherous capillaries! "It's not like that! He… he just saved me is all." The protest sounded ridiculously hollow to her. "He was very brave."

Michiru's smile became less teasing and more maternal. "That's good to know. I should probably go tell your papa not to be too rough while getting him cleaned up then."

He was here in the house? Warmth spread through the girl at the thought, soothing many of the aches that ailed her.

"Hotaru," her mother became suddenly very serious. "What happened out there?"

Hotaru took a deep breath. This was going to be hard. For a moment the young girl envied the emotional detachment of her alter ego. She tried to emulate it now, sitting up despite her pains and wrapping herself in a layer of cool calmness that was still several years beyond her. "There was a fight," she started slowly. "I was walking home and I felt a presence. I changed…"

A shiver took her. For a moment she saw herself naked in the dark. A corpse-like hand settled on her shoulder before moving off to slowly trace a path down her exposed back. Hotaru tried desperately to stop her shaking. Even as her mother-figure moved to hold her, her trembling persisted.

"It's okay little one." Michiru-mama's voice murmured soothingly in the frightened girl's ear. "I've got you now. You're safe."

"He… he was called the Scion of Fear." Hotaru pressed her back into the older woman's embrace. In her mind's eye a pair of dead hands continued to explore and violate. The sensation prickled at her skin, making her itch all over. "He was… he was looking for someone… Not me… someone else. He… he was going to take me anyway."

For several seconds Hotaru continued to tremble into her mother, trying to banish the sensation of rotting fingers probing at her intimately. "I… We… we fought. I… I'm not… not really sure what happened… what he did." The young woman's hands clutched at the blankets piled around her like they were a lifeline. "I… I don't think it wanted to kill me…" Lifeless fingers groped at her in places she'd never let anyone touch before. "Oh god, mama, why couldn't it just want to kill me?" Hotaru swallowed the bile rising in her throat. She had to finish. She had to tell her mama what happened.

Michiru's grip around her became almost vice-like, as if the terror could just be squeezed out. "It got inside me… inside my head. Mama… It's still touching me!" Hotaru wailed into her adopted mother, burying her face in the taller woman's chest as she began to sob uncontrollably.

Michiru-mama's arms tightened around her further. Over her own babbling, she could hear the poor, confused woman trying to offer what comforts she could. It didn't help much. She wasn't there when it happened. She didn't feel the way its disgusting presence could defile a person. The Senshi of Neptune wasn't the one who had brought salvation.

Her angel had. Hotaru could see his mysterious smile banishing the darkness. She could feel his cold fury wrapping around her like a protective cloak. Just the thought of him made her fears retreat somewhat. She could do this. Slowly her shudders abated.

Minutes passed while Hotaru let more pleasant thoughts ease her tension. Thinking of the uncanny being that'd defended her gave her a shield against the other memories. "You should have seen the way he fights," Hotaru whispered reverently. "It was like they were having dozens of battles all at once."

Michiru's fierce hug eased as she backed up to catch a glimpse of Hotaru's face. "You mean the boy? He actually fought the demon?"

"He beat it," Hotaru whispered. "I was too scared. He fought it. It was… like nature fighting itself… like watching a storm at sea. The wind, the earth, the flames, they all just kept dancing endlessly." Her mother was silent, contemplative. That was understandable. It was a hard thing to believe. "I think he's like us, mama. He has some kind of magic."

"What sort of magic?" The older woman had asked gently enough, but Hotaru could hear the razor of fear hidden under the softly spoken words. Her family had a tendency to react poorly to powers they didn't know. They had been the same way towards her when she'd first met them.

"I don't know." The girl continued to whisper. Why did crying always make her so tired? She nestled, exhausted on her surrogate mother's lap. "He made some kind of blue light. It froze things sometimes. And it could make things burst apart too. It was stronger when he had the Glaive."

"The Silence Glaive? He actually used the Silence Glaive?" The concern wasn't disguised this time. Sure, it was rather shocking news, but Mama didn't understand at all. He wasn't a bad person.

"Sort of…" How could Hotaru explain it? Her mama and papa, they hadn't been there to see how angry he became when the demon tried to hurt her. "He could hold it, and he could make it do things, but I don't think he could have brought the Silence with it. I think it works differently for him than it does for me."

Hotaru could feel the tension in her mother's arms ease slightly. Thinking about a stranger with that much power, it would make anyone who didn't know him nervous, but it apparently calmed her mother considerably to know that he probably couldn't destroy the whole world with it.

"That's how he almost died." Hotaru continued in hushed tones. She'd almost lost him. If she'd have been braver, maybe he wouldn't have been hurt so bad. "Is he okay?" The question had been virtually inaudible. Hotaru wasn't sure she wanted an answer. What if it was bad? What if he was hurt worse than she could heal?

Her mother didn't answer right away. When she did her voice was very gentle. "Hotaru, he was hurt very badly. He hasn't woken up yet."

The young woman curled up tighter into her mother. He had been so full of life. His smile was so happy, like he didn't have any cares in the world. Would he ever wake up? Would he ever smile again? Hotaru began to shake slightly once more. It was all her fault. She should have been the one fighting that thing.

"Shhhh…" Her mother stroked her back. "I'm sure he'll be alright. Haruka is taking good care of him right now."

"Can… can I see him?" The young woman continued to lie on the lap of her mama, letting the teal haired senshi's hand sooth her. It wasn't what she really wanted at that moment, but it was still nice.

"Perhaps later," Hotaru could hear playful warmth slipping back into Michiru's voice. "I'm not sure if your papa has him decent just yet. Besides, I'm sure he'd be very cross with you if he discovered that you ended up killing yourself with fatigue after he went through so much effort to rescue you. How about you try to get some rest? He'll still be here waiting in the morning."

Hotaru just nodded, already halfway towards a deep and dreamless sleep. "Mama… Thank you… for taking care of him."

* * *

"Well, kiddo, I think that about does it." Haruka dropped the fourth rag of the night back into the steaming bucket next to her and stepped back from the guest bed to survey her handy work. The stranger was bandaged, strapped, scrubbed, and dried. All in all not bad work, if she did say so herself. Now she just had to get herself cleaned up.

The sometimes senshi of Uranus pulled off her latex gloves and tossed them into the trash bag she'd dragged up from the kitchen, adding the protective gear to the mounting pile of discarded bandages, wrappers, and waste. Man, playing nurse was hard work, especially when your patient was eighty kilos of dead weight.

"You know, stranger," Haruka rubbed at her aching back wearily, "you're not really my type, but I've got to admit, you sure are put together well."

Behind her, the door creaked open. "Just in time to avoid all the heavy lifting, I see," Haruka teased. "If I didn't know you better, I'd swear you planned it that way."

Her lover entered the room and moved to stand next to her. For a few moments the two contemplated the sleeping stranger in silence. "So, how's our little squirt?"

"She's been better." Michiru didn't sound overly optimistic with her appraisal. "It sounds like it was a nasty fight. Hotaru is really shaken right now."

Haruka winced at the news. Carrying one of the planet crystals wasn't an easy burden, and there weren't many people in the world to talk to about the horrors that a senshi had to face. "We'll have to keep an eye on her."

Michiru nodded. "I know."

Another silence stretched between the two of them. Haruka could almost feel the guilt eating away at her lover. She moved closer and silently wrapped an arm around her waist.

The erstwhile musician leaned into the contact and sighed, letting her partner support a portion of her weight. "Haruka, is it always going to be like this?" The woman's gaze stayed locked on the stranger in front of them. "Can't we ever have some peace; just for a while?"

Haruka squeezed the woman next to her affectionately. "I'm sure it'll come one day, love. After all, how many ancient lurking horrors can there possibly be?" Her companion tried to smile, but it was strained. The joke apparently hadn't lightened the mood much.

The truly frightening thing was that there weren't supposed to be any more lurking horrors. Setsuna had said so, and if anyone knew, it would be the Guardian of Time. What did this battle mean, then, for the future that the senshi had been working to build?

Setsuna… Where was she, anyway? It had been months since their sometimes housemate had been present. That, in and of itself, wasn't all that uncommon, but when combined with the sudden and unexpected appearance of powerful monsters… This didn't bode well.

Michiru nodded towards the sleeping form in front of them in an effort to change the subject. "How's your patient?"

The reminder of the past few hours' effort brought Haruka's fatigue back to the forefront. She let her arm slip from Michiru's hip and moved to lower herself into an antique rocking chair next to the bed. Damn wood was hard. Lucky guy, he had the most comfortable piece of furniture in the room.

"It's not as bad as it looks, really." Haruka leaned her head back to look up at the ceiling. It didn't alleviate her neck strain in the slightest. "Mostly it's just bruises, shallow cuts, and minor burns. Looks like he took the worst of the punishment in the chest and back… He's got at least two broken ribs and another three cracked, and some of the burns there might leave some scars. We might have gotten lucky with the lungs though. Once I got those ribs set right, his breathing cleared up a lot."

Michiru nodded. That was the good news, such as it was. "What's really worrying me is the knot on the back of his head." Haruka continued. "It's as big as my fist and required a few stitches." The impromptu medic tried to stretch out a few of her kinks. "He might have cracked his skull… maybe worse. I don't know. Head wounds are tricky."

Michiru leaned over the unconscious form and toyed with the dark hair of his bangs. "Taking him to a doctor looks like it might be out of the question. From what Hotaru described, it's possible he might not be completely human. I wouldn't want to risk exposing him."

Haruka's head snapped back down to gawk at her lover. "What do you mean 'not completely human'? What did Hotaru say?"

"Apparently he has some sort of strange power. She described it as a 'blue light'. He used it to kill the demon."

Simple gawking became incredulity. "You mean Hotaru isn't the one who-"

Michiru shook her head gently but didn't take her eyes off the young man lying before her. "There's more. Apparently he was able to wield the Silence Glaive."

"What!" Haruka launched herself from the chair, nearly swooning at the rush of blood. The idea that someone besides Hotaru could even touch the thing was enough to turn Haruka's blood to ice water. "You don't think he could, you know, _use_ it, use it, do you? You know, like _'end the world'_ use it?"

With that Haruka's lover did turn to face her. "That's not the impression I got, no, but I agree, it's still a bit disconcerting. I didn't think our weapons could even be held by someone who wasn't tied to a planet crystal."

Haruka let out a sigh and settled back into the god awful uncomfortable rocker again. She ran her fingers through her short hair slowly, trying to gain some focus. "Damn. So what do we do?"

Michiru looked back down at the boy in question. "We help him get better…" she whispered to her lover as she straitened the stranger's hair. "And when he wakes up, we try to find some way to repay him for saving our daughter's life."

* * *

The sun cleared, the eastern skyline, tracing angry orange daggers across the blasted street below. Ku'Lon, elder of the Joketsuzoku and most respected master in three generations, gazed down at last night's decimation from her perch atop a ruined mom and pop electronics store. No doubt, this is where her building sense of dread had been leading her. Less than twelve hours ago an epic battle had been fought here.

The ancient warrior leapt from the edge of the building and dropped to the ground below, landing as silently as the wind. The local lawmen had taped off the area last night, and then promptly left it. The matriarch could understand why.

The twisted stone below her feet tried to bend her ki subtly, working to impart the dreadful fear that had been engraved into every molecule as it cooled. It was an after image of the same fear Ku'Lon had felt from miles away in the twilight hours of the previous evening. If she hadn't been forcing calmness into her aura, she would have probably found some reason to avoid this place as well.

The matriarch closed her eyes and let her spirit seep into the ruined earth, examining the nature of the phantom memory that lingered here. She released a tired sigh and let her heavily lidded gaze drift over the dreadful landscape. She knew this fear. She'd felt it before.

In the mountains surrounding her village, if one cared to find it, there was a similar battlefield, haunted by a similar phenomenon. The molten stone in that place had thus far remembered its fear for a little more than two hundred years.

"Ayah! Great Grandma, what you do here?"

The old ghoul shook off her reverie and turned her head upward. There, perched on the edge of the building at the far end of the street, stood her great-granddaughter. A sick feeling began to build in the pit of the old woman's stomach. "Child, what are you doing here? I thought you were off chasing down your wayward betrothed."

The girl nodded emphatically. "Yes, is what I do! Been looking for him for four month now." She frowned. "He always manage to stay ahead of me a few day." With that the bubbly, purple trussed warrior jumped down, landing next to Ku'Lon.

"I was afraid that's what brought you here." Ku'Lon looked down at the warped earth. Had Ranma been involved in this battle? The whispers of the earth insisted that he had. The mutated stone laughed at the loss of his life, at his promise being cut so short. Ku'Lon shook off the effect and refocused her mind. Even the muted impressions of last night's attack were potent. This cursed place would easily lie if it would inflict pain.

"G… great grandma… What happen here?" Xian'Pu stared at the haunted scene in trepidation. The stones would be whispering to her as well, but the girl wasn't experienced enough to separate the phantom emotions from her own.

"There was a battle here. Someone fought a powerful demon." In the marrow of her bones Ku'Lon knew it to be true. There was a terrifying possibility that she could even name the devil.

Xian'Pu shook as though cold, her hands rubbed the gooseflesh rising on her arms. "Was airen? He fight here?"

It was a likely possibility. If the boy had been in the area, he'd have sensed the malign spiritual energy being wielded here at the very least. He would have come to investigate. The boy wouldn't have even thought twice about getting involved. Xian'Pu was a skilled tracker. If she said he had passed this way recently, then he was involved in this battle. "I don't know."

"You think he okay, yes?" The worried teen looked towards her, begging for hope. Ku'Lon would have to step up her training. It wouldn't do to let her heir be influenced by outside forces so easily.

"Son in law is strong, Xian'Pu. I'm sure he's fine." Some of the tension left the girl, but Ku'Lon could practically see the earth continuing to poison her great granddaughter's mood. It was time to distract her. "Child, I have a task for you. Set aside your hunt for the time being and discover what happened here. This is important. There is the possibility that this is Joketsuzoku business."

"But, great grandma-"

"No buts, child." The matriarch glared at her protégé through lidded eyes. "This must be done."

For a second the girl looked like she was going to protest, but whatever argument she was forming died before she could voice it. The teen nodded to her grandmother in understanding. "Yes elder."

"Good," the task would help to take the child's mind off of the fate of her reluctant fiancé. Perhaps he had departed from this place long before the battle had started. There were other warriors in this city, after all. Some of them were even rumored to operate out of this very neighborhood. Perhaps this had been their battle and not his. If rumors of this ward were true, it might even be possible that the demon that fought here was unknown to the warriors of the Joketsuzoku. Many strange evils were said to lurk upon these streets.

The stones laughed at the notion.

"Great Grandma, how this demon our business?" Ku'Lon considered the girl. It was a fair question, particularly given the mission that faced the girl.

"There is a possibility our people have faced this monster before. If it is the same beast, then it has the blood of many of your ancestors to answer for."

The explanation served to firm up the young warrior's resolve. She would do much to preserve the pride of her people; perhaps too much.

"Listen carefully, child. If you should discover this creature, do not face it alone." The stones whispered the screams of the young woman in the elder's ear. The girl's pride would break her, kill her. "Wait for me to return. Promise me granddaughter."

The girl looked hurt, but she bowed her head submissively. "I do as you say, honored elder."

"Good. I will find you when my business is concluded. Be ready to report what you've discovered." Ku'Lon turned to leave.

"Wait!" There was an edge of worry in the child's voice. "Great grandma, why you no stay and help? We find demon together."

Ku'Lon turned to her heir; the weight of her centuries draped heavily across her. "If this is the same creature that our ancestors battled so long ago, then it is not here by chance. The creature was sealed away when I was still a youth. I must discover what became of the talisman that bound it."

"You write home?" the girl asked confused. "Have sisters check seal? You no can do from here?"

"I'm afraid not, child. The talisman was stolen when I was about your age. I'm afraid that there's a thief to track. I go to deliver Joketsuzoku justice nearly two hundred years delayed."

* * *

Author's Notes

Thanks go out to Ozzallos for putting up with all my random ramblings and brainstorming. If you haven't read his stuff, you owe it to yourself to check it out.

This story has received only cursory editing and proof-reading. It's a work in progress. If you see any errors let me know and I'll get them corrected.

Also, if anyone wants to serve as editor or proof-reader, let me know.


	3. Chapter 3

Quiet Magics

Chapter 3 – The Day After

Beams of sunlight peeked through the crack in the curtains to dance across the guest bed's mint green comforter. Hotaru watched the patterns of light and shadows shift silently across the motionless form of her rescuer. It was a melancholy scene. This room, his stillness, the bandages… none of it suited the vibrant spirit that stood smiling down upon her from the rooftops last night.

The young girl shifted in the old rocker she'd curled up on in the pre-dawn hours, wrapping her faded purple comforter around her more tightly. Even if nearly every inch of her wasn't covered in bruises, the seat would still be uncomfortable. It was better than her room though. At least here she could watch over him.

Last night's sleep had been bad... very bad. Most of the details of her horrible dream had vaporized when she'd bolted awake, but, as she dozed uncomfortably in the rocker, little pieces would occasionally float to the surface of her mind.

There was a lot of blood in those scenes. Most of it came from people she cared about... and most of it she'd been forced to draw out herself. In each scene, a corpse-like hand resting on the small of her naked back pushed her to hurt her victims more and more... to deepen their anguish. Yellow eyes glowed in the darkness. Her keeper hissed his perverse pleasure. The stench of rotting flesh and the coppery tang of blood hung in the air. She could hear Usa whimpering through the gag… feel her body struggling under her…

Hotaru's head snapped back up. Damn dreams… Gingerly, the girl lifted an ice pack to her face, letting the coolness of it sink into the swollen skin around her eye. By now the thing had mostly melted. She'd need another one in a little while.

For the moment though, it served its purpose. Sunlight danced into the young Senshi's vision once again, pushing back the darkness. _He_ was there... resting... serene. It didn't seem like there were any demons haunting his sleep. If anything, he was the one stalking devils in _their_ nightmares.

A wicked little smile bloomed on Hotaru's battered face at that thought. In whatever hell the Scion of Fear had been sent back to, Hotaru hoped that he was trembling at the memory of blue flames and icy vengeance every time he closed his eyes. It would be poetic justice.

Hotaru's smile warmed for her savior. The thought that he frightened devils into nightmares seemed like a notion he'd enjoy. She wished he were awake so she could share the idea with him. It would be nice to hear him laugh.

Hotaru's smile faded. It would be nice to hear anything from him. This stillness, this quiet, it seemed so alien on him. It made him seem devoid of life, lying in that bed.

Not for the first time that morning, she wished she were closer to him. It had been a comfort on that battlefield to feel the rhythm of his heart and the filling of his lungs. For a moment the memory of his breath playing against her ear came back into focus.

She blushed. The thought of crawling into the bed next to him was so tempting. At least then she could feel the life in him. What if he were to wake up, though? How would she ever explain herself to him?

She sighed. It wasn't her place to sleep next to him anyway. She barely knew anything about him. The demon had called him Saotome and it had been sent to kill him. He was brave and unbelievably powerful. His heart was big enough to feel compassion for a stranger… and not just any stranger either, but a heartless killing machine. That was the extent of her knowledge.

He probably already had someone special in his life. As brave and as handsome as he was, Hotaru couldn't imagine him staying single for long. Beautiful women probably threw themselves at him left and right. Not that he'd take advantage of it, of course. Clearly with his kind heart he wouldn't toy with a girl's emotions so.

Dejectedly, the sometimes senshi of Saturn let her head fall back onto her ice pack. Right now there was probably some poor woman worried out of her mind that her knight in shining armor hadn't come home last night, and here Hotaru was thinking about how nice it would be to curl up in bed with him. Some defender of love and justice she was.

Even if there wasn't some pretty sweetheart waiting worried by a phone somewhere, Hotaru just couldn't picture him being interested in someone like her. He was clearly several years older than she was so he'd probably be interested in a more mature woman. Also, she could tell when he smiled that he really loved life. It would be wrong to tie such a vibrant soul to the harbinger of death. She was probably too cold for him… too brooding. He didn't deserve that.

He deserved someone prettier too. Hotaru hazarded a glance at the vanity on the far side of the room. The sight that greeted her couldn't be considered very desirable. Even ignoring the ugly purple lumps she'd picked up last night, there wasn't really much to look at.

Here she was, just turned sixteen… sort of… and she still had the body of a scrawny twelve year old. The last few years had just made her more gangly and awkward. Hell, with her short hair and flat chest, she might as well start getting tips from Haruka-papa on how to pass herself off as a boy.

"I wish I could be someone you'd wake up for," Hotaru whispered to the sleeping angel.

"Don't sell yourself too short, Hotaru-chan."

Hotaru whipped her head around at the unexpected voice. "Setsuna-mama?"

Near the foot of the guest bed the sailor suited Guardian of Time leaned wearily against her Key-Staff and grinned at her youngest ward. "Good morning."

"That's it? Good morning?" The woman vanishes off the face of the Earth, probably literally, for more than four months, and all she has to say is 'good morning?'

The older senshi hung her head. "I know, little firefly. It's been a while. I'm sorry." Bloodshot eyes looked out through emerald locks. "Something came up. I've been very busy."

Hotaru took in the appearance of her eldest guardian more carefully. Despite the radiant power of her senshi form, Pluto looked like death warmed over. Dark rings circled heavily lidded eyes, and the young teen was pretty sure the older woman wouldn't be standing without her weapon to help support her. "Are you okay?"

The spent guardian took a few tired steps and then lowered herself to sit on the edge of the bed next to the young teen. Her hand lowered onto the purple blanket covering Hotaru's knee. "I'm well enough, firefly; just in need of some rest. What about you? I dare say you look a sight worse than I."

Hotaru broke eye contact with the woman and stared intently at her melting ice pack. "I'm fine."

Setsuna-mama shook her head. "No, you're not." The Senshi's white gloved hand lifted to Hotaru's chin and forced their eyes to meet again. "I know it was a near thing, Hotaru. If he had been just a second slower, if the devil had been just a bit more powerful, if you hadn't tripped over your own feet, we wouldn't be here to have this conversation." The Guardian of Time released her companion's chin and traced her fingers along the path of the teen's falling tears. "It didn't happen."

Hotaru's gaze fell again. "It could have. I could have killed all of you."

Setsuna turned her head to glance at the boy behind her and smiled. "I suppose it's fortunate, then, that our sleeping friend here is as resourceful as he is resilient."

Hotaru continued to toy dejectedly with the melted pack in her hands, letting the unnaturally blue gel gush through the bag as she squeezed each corner in turn. "Will he be okay?"

"I'm sure he'll pull through," Setsuna replied after a moment of thought. "But if you're looking for a more comfortable place to get some rest, then I'm reasonably certain he won't be objecting to a little extra company at any point today."

Hotaru felt her cheeks redden. Sometimes it was frightening how well Setsuna-mama could read a person. In spite of the teasing, though, it was good to hear the older woman say that the boy would be okay. If anyone would know for sure, it would be the Guardian of Time.

With a final pat to the girl's thigh, Setsuna pulled herself to her feet. "I think I'll let you get some sleep. After I have a word with the others I'll probably be doing the same thing myself."

As the jade haired Senshi shambled to the door, Hotaru considered the recently vacated corner of the bed. It did look a fair bit more comfortable than the old rocker she'd been suffering in all morning, and the girl was willing to bet she'd have fewer nightmares curled up there.

"Setsuna-mama," Hotaru asked, still looking at the bed. "Something's wrong, isn't it?"

From the door, the ancient guardian paused. "There are a few things that need to be fixed, Hotaru, but I'm sure we can handle it."

Hotaru nodded, and then turned to her comrade. "There's a new enemy, isn't there?"

Briefly the Guardian of the Gates looked back over her shoulder and smiled enigmatically. "Get some rest, Hotaru. It wouldn't do to let this opprotunity pass you by."

* * *

"If you'd like to challenge the owner to savage combat, use rear gate," the old woman read. For a moment she considered heeding the advice. It was very likely she would have to kill one of the dojo's occupants today. The least she could do was follow the proper protocol.

Ku'Lon shook her head. There was no reason yet to assume violence was a foregone conclusion. The events of the previous evening might not have anything to do with the residents of Nermia. Granted it was unlikely that the matriarch would be so fortunate, but it wouldn't hurt to confirm her suspicions before she dispensed justice. The shriveled woman raised her staff to the door and rapped twice.

Moments later the latch clicked, letting the door swing open to reveal the eldest of the Tendo daughters. "Oh, Elder Ku'Lon! What an unexpected surprise."

The wizened old woman took in the young lady before her. Kasumi was the very picture of the traditional housewife. Ku'Lon sighed. The poor girl had grown up too fast. The work she did for her family was a testament to her character, but she should have been out building her own future, not tending to an old man who couldn't pull himself out of a tragic past.

Still, the unlikely Tendo matron was as beautiful as she was kind. Not for the first time, Ku'Lon wondered why it wasn't this young woman that the old men of the house tried to force into Ranma's bed. She would have been good for the poor boy, and the matriarch doubted that her sometimes pupil would have protested all that much.

"It's good to see you, child. I'm sorry that my visits have been so infrequent of late." Truth be told, Ku'Lon hadn't found reason to visit this place since before Ranma decided to leave town. If it wasn't for recent events, she wouldn't have minded avoiding the place entirely.

"I'm sure your work at the restaurant keeps you busy, Ku'Lon-san. Think nothing of it." The young woman smiled down at her warmly. Ku'Lon had to smile in return. There weren't many people in the world like Kasumi. It's a shame her family didn't realize what a treasure they had in her. "Please, come in."

Ku'Lon accepted the invitation with a simple nod and followed the girl into the house proper. Despite the difficulties that her wayward student faced from those inside, it was easy to see what made the boy so reluctant to leave. The Tendo home was a tiny sliver of the old world nestled in the heart of the modern city. The traditional backdrop suited Ranma, even if its occupants tended not to.

"The weather lately has been beautiful, wouldn't you agree, elder?" Kasumi began as the two seated themselves at the table.

Small talk… What a ridiculous concept. Still, Ku'Lon was the guest here and 'polite' was often a matter of perspective. It was a lesson her great granddaughter had yet to learn, even in spite of their extended stay in the land of Wa. "It's a touch on the cold side for these old bones, but at least it's been dry."

"I suppose you're right," Kasumi settled into her seat comfortably, as though preparing for a long meal rather than a simple cup of tea. How often, Ku'Lon wondered, did the poor woman actually have real company to entertain? It was a shame that the matriarch only came by to slay one of her houseguests. "May I pour for you?"

"Thank you, child." Ku'Lon watched her hostess contentedly go to work. The old woman sighed. She really should have found time to visit more often, if for no other reason than the simple joy it brought the young lady seated across from her. Ku'Lon took her cup and sipped, letting the bowl rest at her lips so that she could savor the aroma. Today would probably be her last opportunity to partake of this particular blend. It was best to enjoy it while it lasted.

"So," Ku'Lon peered at her hostess over the rim of her cup, watching the girl get ready to enjoy the beverage herself. "How was your tryst with my future son-in-law?"

The poor girl nearly choked on her tea, coughing up a fine mist of hot spray as she stuttered, fish-eyed, in shock. Ku'Lon had to smile to herself. There weren't many people who'd ever gotten to see the eldest Tendo girl flustered. "Oh for the love of… Nothing happened! I swear, has everyone heard that silly rumor!"

The matriarch chuckled into her cup. "The story did make it around town a few times. Little surprise; your sister has a voice that can carry all the way to the Nekohanten when she's upset."

The young hostess's teacup clattered to its saucer as she let out a snort of exasperation.

Ku'Lon's smile widened. "Relax, child. Ranma set the record straight with me before he left. Forgive an old woman for having a bit of fun?"

Kasumi glanced back at the matriarch. "You mean you knew he was leaving?"

Ku'Lon's smile turned more wistful. "I'm afraid I might have been the one to put the notion in his head." The matriarch put her cup down and gave Kasumi her full attention. "I gave him a new technique to chew on for a while and I might have suggested that taking a training trip would give him some time to work out his frustrations. I honestly didn't think he'd be gone this long."

Kasumi's glare became marginally less frosty. "Well, I suppose he did need a bit of a vacation. Still, he could have let us known where he was going."

Ku'Lon shook her head in sympathy. "Given the way that poor child's life has gone so far, I'd say that leaving a trail for all his would-be lovers and rivals to follow would have been the absolute last thing he needed to do."

Traces of suspicion crept their way into the young hostess's gaze. "And I suppose that your great granddaughter doesn't have a clue where he might have gone either?"

"Ha!" Ku'Lon began to cackle. "Child, getting my great granddaughter lost in the wilds of Japan for a few weeks is precisely the reason I put the notion in the boy's head to begin with. Listening to that girl spout the virtues of her 'airen' can become more than a little tedious after a while. It wouldn't do to have her drag the boy back too quickly. You see, Ranma wasn't the only one that needed a vacation."

Even Kasumi had to giggle a bit at that. "You really do care for him, don't you Ku'Lon-san?" The elder just shrugged and sipped at her tea. "Don't worry. Your secret is safe with me."

For a moment the two sat in silence, each enjoying their cups. "Do you know if he'll be back soon? Life around here has gotten so boring since he left."

Ku'Lon frowned. There was a very real possibility that the boy died yesterday evening. "I'm not sure, child. I believe he'll come back if he can, though it's hard to say if it will be for good. A person can only take so much pain in life, even one so strong as Ranma."

Kasumi's smile slipped as well and she turned away from the old woman, fidgeting with the hem of her apron. "We haven't been very kind to him, have we?"

The old woman shook her head. "I'm sure he's known kindness here, young one, but we've all given him hardships too. Like as not, he'll remember the fond memories long after he's forgotten the painful ones. In the mean time he has a future to decide for himself, and whatever path he chooses; we'll have to learn to respect it."

Ku'Lon returned her eyes to the cup she held and took a moment to reflect on her time with the Saotome heir, allowing her hostess the time to do the same. Neither spoke for several minutes.

"Elder Ku'Lon, why did you visit?" Kasumi asked; her eyes still averted.

This was it then. This was the end of the pleasantries. "I've come for Happosai."

Kasumi peeked over at the aging matriarch. "What's he done this time?"

This time… How many times had the old fool hurt people? How often had he gotten others into trouble? There had been too many second chances, too much compassion. Now the whole of the world may suffer for it. Ku'Lon should have finished this more than two centuries ago. "Perhaps he's done nothing. I don't know. Something terrible has happened, though, and I must know if the he was involved."

The young hostess sighed. "I wish I could help you, Ku'Lon-san, but I'm afraid Grandpa Happosai left on a trip several weeks ago."

"I see." At least the shriveled pervert had the good graces to commit his blasphemy someplace out of town. It made sense. If he'd done the deed here at the Dojo, then Nermia would have been noticeably more interesting. "Do you know where he might have gone?"

The girl shook her head. "He only said he was going to go find Ranma. We haven't seen him since."

Of course, they probably hadn't been looking very hard either, the matriarch thought to herself. Even by his successors, the Grandmaster of the Musabetsu Kakuto Ryu wasn't exactly well loved. She would have to search elsewhere for the old gnome.

"I see. I suppose I should be going then." The elder placed her cup back on its saucer. "Thank you for your hospitality Tendo-san."

"Oh, think noting of it." The woman smiled as the two walked back to the front door. "I hope we can do it again sometime."

The matriarch felt a pang of regret for the poor young woman's loneliness. "Yes. When I have less pressing business, I'll make a point to pay you a visit." With luck the world would still be around long enough for her to make good on that promise.

* * *

"She's still with him, isn't she?" Haruka asked. Michiru nodded her head almost imperceptibly. She could understand her lover's concern. It didn't pay to get attached to rogue elements and there was a chance that, despite what he did for Hotaru, the boy might be an unavoidable threat.

Michiru's partner continued to pace, taking occasional glances back at the stairs. She'd always been a woman of action, but there was no clear path to take in this situation. They needed more information, and until they had it, they were forced to wait. Poor Haruka, she didn't exactly wait well.

In the mean time, their daughter was developing an understandable infatuation with the very subject of their concerns. Even if the boy turned out to be benign, odds were still very high that he'd break the young girl's heart.

"Haruka, I really wish you'd sit down. That's an expensive carpet you're wearing out." The young father-figure stopped only long enough to toss Michiru a frustrated snort.

"This can't end well Michiru. She's going to be hurt, one way or the other."

"Yes." Sometimes remaining dignified was a hellish task. "That's true, she might. It was bound to happen eventually."

"Well we should do something!" Haruka spat back.

Michiru's delicate lips turned down ever so slightly. Had the love of her life just shouted at her? The Senshi of Neptune met Haruka's frustration with her own cold glare. Her lover's posture wilted instantly. Good. Some things just couldn't be allowed to pass.

"I just don't want her to be hurt." Haruka finally gave up her pacing to slump into the leather recliner on the other side of the study.

Michiru let some of her chill melt and favored the worried 'father' with a sympathetic smile. "I know, love. But there's really not much we can do at this point. Separating her from the boy won't stop her crush, and could only serve as a wedge if we had to take more aggressive action later. For the moment, we'll just have to wait until we have more information and hope for the best."

"That seems like a wise decision."

The heads of both women turned towards the unexpected whisper to find the Guardian of the Gates of Time leaning against the wall of the stairwell in full senshi form. "I hate to impose," she intoned in a soft and mysterious tone, "but could one of you help me to a seat?"

It took Michiru a moment to realize that Setsuna's relaxed posture was more than just for dramatic effect. The Senshi of Pluto was managing to keep her feet, but it was a near thing. Her head lulled against the wall, letting a curtain of jade hair fall about her like a shroud. Michiru crossed over to her friend and mentor and helped ease her off the steps.

"What the hell happened to you?" Haruka stared at their mutual friend as Michiru guided the exhausted guardian to to the sofa.

Setsuna slumped into the offered seat. "There's been an incident. The intended flow of time has been compromised."

Haruka cast a nervous glance back towards the stairs. "What kind of an incident? Is someone trying to interfere with the ascension of Serenity?"

"I'm not sure." The exhausted Senshi lulled her head to catch the other woman's eye. "It's a possibility. There's also a chance that this was a natural calamity. As stable as the timeline leading up to the founding of Crystal Tokyo was, nothing is certain until it comes to pass." Setsuna rested her head against the back of the couch and closed her eyes. "The strength and stability of the interfering timeline, as well as its dark nature, does, however, suggest intentional manipulation."

Michiru sat next to her friend, holding the woman's limp hand in her own. "There was an attack last night. Is that the cause of this?"

The other woman's head shook almost imperceptibly. "No. This began a little more than four months ago. I'm not sure what caused it. It wasn't a part of the potential timelines that I've monitored. Last night was partly my doing. It was the only way I could think of to prevent unavoidable paradox."

"Wait, you brought that thing here?" Haruka's voice seemed to drop the temperature of the room several degrees. "Do you have any idea what it almost did!"

"Yes, Haruka, I saw it. I know what happened. It was necessary."

Michiru gave her mentor's hand a squeeze. "Setsuna, why leave Hotaru to fight that creature alone? Why didn't you warn us?"

"I didn't have the strength. I had to feed nearly the whole extent of my power to the Gate. It was the only way to prevent potential paradox from re-writing our history before I could correct the damage that has been done." The Mistress of Time took long moments to collect her thoughts. "The drain on my power trapped me in the nexus where the Gate resides. Making even a partial connection to this world for only the span of a heartbeat was almost enough to trap me forever."

Haruka sat heavily on the far side of the couch. "I really hate temporal mechanics."

It was a thought Michiru could readily agree with. Understanding what, exactly, their mutual friend did would take a lifetime of education, perhaps even several lifetimes. "What effect could you possibly have in so short a time, and if the drain was so great, how is it that you're free now?"

Setsuna leaned forward in the chair and tried to shake herself into alertness. "I don't have the energy to explain at the moment. Suffice it to say that we have more time now than we originally did. Nevertheless, Fear was only part of the problem. The seal that held him was one of seven that separate this world from the original planes of chaos and evil. Now that one of the seals is cracked, the rest will slowly degrade, letting increasingly more dangerous devils loose in this realm. We'll have to find a way to stop this from happening."

Haruka nodded. "So we find and repair the seals before anything too nasty gets loose. Where do we start looking?"

"At the moment I'm not sure. The Scion of Fear had many of the seals in motion already when I first began to locate them. His premature death will have changed the outcome of those visions. Usually I have other methods of discerning such information, but those paths have only just re-opened to me, and what I've learned thus far is, at best, clouded."

Setsuna leaned back against the sofa and closed her eyes. "There's more. The creatures that escape to Earth, they'll be able to sense the power of our Soul Crystals. These beasts will come looking for us. The others must be warned."

Michiru stood. "I'll contact them. Is there anything else they'll need to be told?"

For long moments the Senshi of Pluto didn't speak. When at last she did, she seemed uncomfortable with her words. "An event will occur near the end of the next week that should allow me greater access to future knowledge. I'll be able to explain more at that time. Until then… there is one other thing, but even I don't understand what it means."

Michiru watched her friend as she reclined. The older woman made several efforts to begin speaking again, her mouth going so far as to open, only to snap itself back shut.

"Oh, spit it out!" Haruka's outburst nearly made Michiru jump out of her skin, but it seemed to galvanize Pluto as well.

"Hygiene products… Styling gel, fragrances, hair care essentials… they aren't really evil and we'll need them before this is over with."

Silence reigned in the room for several long minutes. Michiru turned her eyes from the enigmatic Senshi of Time to a decorative mirror on the wall and then back again. Her hair looked fine. A quick glance at Haruka confirmed that her lover, too, was well groomed, though the woman was currently sniffing at her underarms in a most unattractive manner. Had that been some kind of a joke?

Setsuna shrugged. "I told you it didn't make sense. Keep some of these items on hand anyway. Tell the others, too. They'll need to know." With that the Senshi of Time dragged herself up the stairs that would lead her to her bed. In her wake she left two very confused friends.

* * *

"This is the spot all right," Minako exclaimed as she ducked under the unattended police tape. "If a demon didn't cause this, then I don't know what did."

Ami was forced to agree. The devastation was impressive to say the least. Not that they both hadn't seen far worse in their tenure as senshi, but the level of property damage certainly was well above average. What temperature did asphalt liquefy at anyway? She'd have to check on that.

Ami stooped under the tape and moved next to the slightly taller blonde. In the glow of the setting sun, long shadows stretched across the sea of ruined tarmac. Disconcerting forms spread themselves across the broken walls, slowly devouring the blood red light. The sometimes senshi of Mercury suppressed a shiver.

Minako peered about nervously. "It's strange how quiet it is here. It's like I can't hear the rest of the city just on the other side."

Ami nodded. "Let's get this done with and get out of here."

The girl pulled out the Mercury Computer and began priming it to scan the area. It had been nearly twenty-three hours since the previous night's battle, and undoubtedly a number of contractors, law enforcement officers, insurance agents, and business owners had passed through, but there might be some residual evidence for the device to catalog.

"So, you think this guy Hotaru found is cute?" Minako asked as she continued to peer into the eldritch shadows.

Ami shook her head. "No idea." Leave it to Minako to worry about that in spite of everything else. Makoto wanted to know how strong he was, Rei wanted to know if he could be trusted. Minako, though, she just wanted to know if he was datable.

The self proclaimed senshi of love shuddered briefly then began rubbing her arms for warmth. "I'll bet he is. Lucky Hotaru… Wish some handsome stranger would swoop out of the night and rescue me."

Ami tried to ignore her friend's ramblings as she focused on her work. The sooner she finished her survey, the better, especially if her partner was too focused on her love life to worry about the very real possibility of a demon showing up to steal their power.

"Ami, do you think I'll end up an old maid?"

The girl turned away from her computer for a moment to stare at her friend. The senshi of Venus was still watching the deepening shadows, but she would occasionally cast a miserable glance back over her shoulder. Was she serious?

"Minako, I don't think you've got anything to worry about," Ami replied. Was the woman going crazy? She was beautiful, popular, and a talented athlete. Why would she have any trouble finding a boyfriend?

The girl in question nodded slightly but her mood didn't seem to lighten. "It's just that, you know, I've kind of been looking, and every time we find a cute boy he either ends up with someone else, or it turns out he's trying to kill us. Is there some reason I can't, like, find a normal hunky guy?"

Ami shrugged. "I'm sure it's just bad luck. We lead interesting lives, after all, and sometimes it's hard to find time for a social life when you have to put everything on hold to save the world."

"…Maybe." Minako cast her eyes down before fighting off another shaking fit. Was it really that cold out?

Ami swung her computer towards her friend to get a scan. A few seconds later the screen displayed the image of the blonde senshi superimposed by the readout of her spiritual pattern. Something was very wrong.

Usually her friend's aura read as a vibrant gold penetrated by streamers of sky blue and deep orange, but the display showed the usually dazzling spectacle turning a foul shade of yellowish green wherever it touched the ground.

"Minako, something isn't right. I think we should move." Ami watched in the monitor as her friend turned to face her. Another burst of sickly green washed across the display.

The blonde senshi took a few steps back, her eyes darting around the thickening twilight. "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea."

With that the two teens began walking quickly towards the nearest section of police tape. Ami let out a sigh of relief as her hands came into contact with the symbolic barrier. "That place, it was affecting our life energy somehow. I think-"

Ami's next words were cut off as a dark mass from above crashed into her blonde friend. The shape quickly resolved itself into a cloaked and hooded form wielding an ancient spear.

The figure stepped off the twitching Minako and leveled the deadly blade at the blue haired Senshi. Ami's eyes crossed as she tracked the length of the weapon to the razor sharp point just millimeters from her nose.

A slender hand pushed back the cloak's hood to reveal an exotic and foreign beauty seldom seen. Lustrous purple tresses spilled out as the woman shook her head free of its confinement. The stranger raised her chin imperiously, her heavily lidded eyes focused like lasers, boring into Ami's soul.

"You!" the woman demanded. "You tell what you know about this place and maybe you no get hurt too bad."

* * *

Author's notes…

Yes, I realize this chapter wasn't exactly the most exciting that I've ever written. Believe me, it could have been worse. I had another three or four pages of temporal mechanics in the original draft.


	4. Chapter 4

Quiet Magics 4

Another Fine Mess

By the ancestors this is boring. Xian'Pu sat still as a statue on the lip of one of the ruined buildings surrounding the site of last night's battle. Curse her great grandmother for making her do this. She should have been out hunting for Ranma, not sitting here watching silly shop keepers and cowardly law people scurry away from a cursed chunk of broken road. Every second here allowed her wayward lover to gain a greater lead.

This probably wasn't even a Joketsuzoku matter anyway. Stupid monsters attacked this silly neighborhood all the time. Everyone knew it. What the hell was she supposed to find here anyway? Nearly the whole day had passed and absolutely nobody who looked like they knew anything had come even close to this place.

Just as Xian'Pu wound down from her silent litany of complaints, movement from below caught her eye. Two school girls were creeping suspiciously along the abandoned road towards the police line. Well, actually only the blonde one was creeping suspiciously. The one with the short dark hair was shaking her head and doing her best to ignore her companion's antics.

Within moments, the two teens passed below Xian'Pu's perch and crossed under the yellow tape and into the center of the blasted courtyard. Apparently this was their destination. The short haired girl took out a little box and began fiddling with it while her friend played lookout. There they sat, holding a quiet conversation in the middle of a cursed battleground while darkness settled around them.

Xian'Pu smiled. There were only a few types of people who would intentionally stay in such a horrible place, and since these girls clearly weren't shop owners or government officials, that meant they were in the most interesting category of all; people who were interested in the fight. They'd likely have the information her great grandmother needed.

How to approach the situation though? They certainly didn't look like any kind of demon hunter Xian'Pu had ever seen. They had no weapons, no scars, no honor trophies, and no armor. They were slight of frame and they didn't carry themselves like warriors… well, maybe the blonde did, but certainly not a very good one.

Perhaps they were servants of the demon. Such creatures were known to possess those of weak will, and unfortunately Xian'Pu could ascribe that descriptor to nearly everyone she'd met in this infernal country. The only people she'd met on this island that weren't sheep tended to congregate around her would-be husband.

If they were slaves of the dark one, then there was no point in subtlety. Xian'Pu slipped over the short lip that separated her little ledge from the roof proper. Earlier in the day she'd arranged what tools and equipment she had with her for quick and easy access.

The young warrior's hand came to rest on the grip of her Bon'bari for a moment. It was a good weapon for close in fights and could deliver punishing damage, but if these women were possessed by powerful spirits, it would be exactly the wrong sort of tool.

The spear! That was a better choice. It would be useful in a stand-off fight, could be turned instantly lethal, and still it was versatile enough to be a useful instrument for prying information out of a target. Xian'Pu grabbed the weapon, as well as her horn-bow and a small quiver just in case things went _really_ wrong, and slid back to the edge of the building.

The two women were leaving via a quiet side-alley that ran along the eastern wall of the building Xian'Pu was on. Perfect! The young warrior pulled up the hood of her cloak and silently lifted herself onto the edge of the promontory she'd occupied earlier.

The two women ducked the yellow tape and stopped just inside the alley. The one with the short dark hair started talking again. Her blonde companion turned to face her. Oh, this was just too perfect. Xian'Pu smiled under the darkness of her hood and leaped.

* * *

"That place, it was affecting our life energy somehow. I think-"

Ami's next words were cut off as a dark mass from above crashed into her blonde friend. The shape quickly resolved itself into a cloaked and hooded form wielding an ancient spear.

The figure stepped off the twitching Minako and leveled the deadly blade at the blue haired senshi. Ami's eyes crossed as she tracked the length of the weapon to the razor sharp point just millimeters from her nose.

A slender hand pushed back the cloak's hood to reveal an exotic and foreign beauty seldom seen. Lustrous purple tresses spilled out as the woman shook her head free of its confinement. The stranger raised her chin imperiously, her heavily lidded eyes focused like lasers, boring into Ami's soul.

"You!" the woman demanded. "You tell what you know about this place and maybe you no get hurt too bad."

Ami tried to ease her way back from the strange woman. It wasn't a tactic that would work for long. Back would lead deeper into the alley, and farther away from help. Sure enough, the cloaked warrior seemed more than happy to follow farther into the growing darkness.

Behind her attacker, Ami could just make out her companion. Minako had stopped her spasms and was now lying completely still on the filth encrusted ground. This was bad.

"You no start talking, you end up like your friend." The stranger took longer strides, shortening the gap between the two of them. At this range, a good thrust would skewer the sometimes senshi's head with plenty of room to spare.

"I… I really don't know what you're talking about." The edge of a dumpster clipped Ami's arm as she stumbled backwards, farther into the alley.

The unexpected loss of balance was apparently all the invitation her attacker needed. The shaft of the woman's weapon blurred in an arc, crashing into the underside of Ami's left cheekbone with terrible force.

The world toppled as spots of bright color exploded across the senshi's vision. The dizzying trip ended abruptly when her head impacted the far wall. Shocked back into clarity, Ami felt her face grate against every jagged brick as she slid to the sour earth.

When she finally came to a stop, the girl's hands moved to cover her broken face, shielding it from farther harm. It took a few moments of panicked probing before Ami was willing to believe that the blinding attack hadn't torn off half her head, but as the shock of agony gave way to a more manageable ache, Ami turned her still good eye back towards her assailant.

Through the fog of pain, Ami could see that the cloaked warrior had averted her attention momentarily, choosing instead to examine a blurry blue rectangle that she held lightly in one hand. The Water Senshi felt her blood freeze in her veins. Before her painful trip, she'd been holding the Mercury Computer.

The strange woman glanced back at Ami out of the corner of her eye, one delicate eyebrow inching up ever so slightly. "Is okay. We do this hard way if that what you want." With one hand, the purple haired warrior whipped her spear around, burying it deeply in the patent leather toe of Ami's right Mary Jane.

Ami's heart jumped into her throat at the impact. Between her toes she could feel the cold steel of the stranger's weapon.

"Why you come to this place," the mysterious assailant demanded. "What this little box tell you? You be nice and answer, or maybe you loose some toes next time." With that, the woman yanked her spear from the torn shoe and readied herself for a second stab.

"I… we," Ami worked around the pain, trying to formulate some believable story that wouldn't give away her identity. "We were just curious about the fight. We heard the senshi were involved."

"Senshi?" the woman turned fully towards Ami once more. "They demon hunters, yes? How you know they fight here?" There was more than just a little suspicion in the woman's heavily accented voice.

"Who else would it be?" The laser like gaze of the foreign beauty didn't ease in the slightest. "Monsters show up and then the senshi fight them. That's the way it goes."

The woman's scrutiny intensified. "Just senshi and demon? Nobody else here this time?"

Ami's eyes widened ever so slightly. This woman knew about the stranger? How? Had somebody else been watching the battle? "I… I don't know."

Slowly, the cool metal of the woman's spearhead lowered, its tip coming to rest in the hollow of Ami's throat. "Very bad things happen to people who lie. You is very pretty girl. Doesn't mean you stay that way."

Ami shut her eyes and tried to breathe steadily. This woman's questions were hitting way too close to the mark. "Honestly, we don't know exactly what happened here." When in doubt, tell the truth creatively. "We were just hoping we might find some souvenirs."

The slight pressure that the spear's point had been exerting lifted. Ami held her breath, waiting for the blade to fall again. Her eyes remained firmly shut. Whatever mutilation her tormentor was about to inflict, she didn't want to see it coming.

The sometimes Senshi of Mercury heard her attacker's pole-arm whistle through the air.

* * *

Minako pushed through the haze of unconsciousness. The rancid stench of filth filled her lungs, burning away the cloud of darkness. The senshi of Venus managed to suppress a gagging fit.

Slowly she cracked open one eye. She was still in the alley, lying face first in a sticky puddle of… best not to think about that. A throbbing ache at the back of her skull sent streamers swimming through her vision with each beat of her heart.

"I… I really don't know what you're talking about." It was Ami's voice. Minako twisted her head slightly to try and see what was happening further down the corridor. Her friend was being herded into the deeper darkness by a cloaked figure holding some sort of pole-arm.

A faint clang of metal sounded somewhere down range and suddenly the cloaked figure blurred into motion. The senshi of Venus heard a terrible crack, her friend shrieked in pain. Minako had to suppress the urge to bolt up and charge the attacker. If her short lived solo career as Sailor V taught her anything, it was that reckless heroics without a plan was a fast way to get hurt.

In the gloom, Minako could see her friend sliding awkwardly down a brick wall to settle into a crumpled heap on the floor. Slowly, the senshi of Venus lifted herself to her hands and knees, mindful of every whisper and sigh of her school uniform, every creak of her joints.

The cloaked figure turned away from her current target for a second. Minako froze. The strange woman bent down and picked something up off the floor. Minako held her breath as she studied the stranger's profile, praying the exotic warrior wouldn't spare a glance in her direction.

Farther in the darkness, Ami's erratic gasping eased into a more controlled breathing. Their attacker noticed the change as well. The woman glanced back at the blue haired senshi, but didn't turn.

"Is okay. We do this hard way if that what you want." Suddenly the woman's weapon twisted violently and plunged into the ground.

This time Minako couldn't contain herself. She was on her feat and half a stride down the alley before any thoughts of stealth managed to slow her. Fortunately the bite of the spear and Ami's subsequent gasp managed to cover any sound she might have made.

"Why you come to this place," the woman demanded. "What this little box tell you? You be nice and answer, or maybe you loose some toes next time." Minako crept towards the scene as the mysterious assailant prepared to inflict further harm on Ami.

As she drew closer, Minako cursed herself for not going to find a place to transform. What the hell was she thinking, sneaking up on a super powerful armed assailant in her school uniform?

"I… We… We were just curious about the fight. We heard the senshi were involved." That's it Ami, get the psychopath talking. Minako continued to inch forward, winding her way carefully through the refuse strewn alley.

"Senshi? They demon hunters, yes? How you know they fight here?" That's right, pay attention to Ami. Nothing going on behind you that you need to worry about.

Just another three meters, Minako thought, and then I can do something really dumb. With luck I'll last long enough to buy Ami the time she'll need to go make the smart decision. Man, sometimes it sucked being the stupidly heroic one.

"Who else would it be? Monsters show up and then the senshi fight them. That's the way it goes." Minako smiled. In a few minutes the psychotic bitch was going to get some first hand experience with the way it goes.

"Just senshi and demon? Nobody else here this time?" Minako froze. Did the ditzy psychopath know about Hotaru's mystery hunk?

"I… I don't know." Oh crap. Honestly, didn't Ami have a better poker face than that?

"Very bad things happen to people who lie." Great, it looks like the bitch isn't as dumb as she sounds. "You is very pretty girl. Doesn't mean you stay that way."

The blade of the woman's spear dipped down to rest at the hollow of Ami's throat. Minako crouched, ready to pounce.

"Honestly, we don't know exactly what happened here." This was it. "We were just hoping we might find some souvenirs."

The woman drew back her spear…

Go time!

Minako lunged forward, groping for the shaft of the weapon. The mysterious warrior turned. The spear whistled through the air.

The sometimes senshi of Venus felt the wind rush from her lungs as the butt of the spear buried itself in her stomach. Fortunately, years of warrior instinct allowed her to cling to her enemy's weapon in a vice-like death grip even as she struggled to suck in air.

The stranger's eyes narrowed contemptuously and she yanked the back end of the spear around in a wide arc to dislodge the gaping Minako. The blonde senshi managed to hold fast to the weapon, but the swing lifted her bodily from the ground as though she weighed nothing.

Minako's feet planted as she came around. It wasn't a stellar landing, but she still had a grip on the weapon and she hadn't fallen down. "I've got this!" she yelled over her shoulder. "Go get help!" Behind her, she could hear erratic footfalls as Ami bolted into the darkness.

The exotic warrior frowned. "It not nice to interrupt conversation. Maybe you need lesson in manners?" With that the woman yanked on the spear, forcing Minako to stumble forward. The purple haired brute's arm snapped up as the senshi fell off balance, catching the would-be heroine squarely in the nose with an open palm strike.

Minako's head jerked back with an awful crunch. Through the haze of stabbing pain, the young woman was vaguely aware of the wooden shaft tearing itself from her grasp. Drunkenly, she stumbled back as she shook off the motes of darkness that swam in her vision. Out of habit she fell into a loose combat stance, bracing for violence as she shook off the stunning blow.

Strangely, the woman considered Minako for a moment rather than simply running her through. Whatever she saw, it apparently met with her approval. Minako watched her nod ever so subtly before backing up a few paces. The stranger thrust the head of her spear into the ground and stepped away from it to fall into a loose kung-fu stance of her own. There she waited, a sinister grin stretched across her face.

Not daring to take her eyes from the unusual warrior, the Senshi took the reprieve to thumb her nose, causing her to wince in pain. There was a warm river of blood pouring from the abused organ. Damn it! That was going to leave a hell of a mark!

Minako grit her teeth. Fine, if the silly bitch wanted a fist fight, she'd get one! The Senshi of Love raced towards her assailant. At the last instant she twisted herself into a spin, throwing her inertia into a devastating hook kick.

The strange warrior jolted back faster than Minako's eyes could follow. The senshi's kick whistled harmlessly past the still smiling woman's face.

Even before the first kick landed, Minako launched herself into a series of spinning combinations, hoping to capitalize as much as she could on her charge. Each one met little more than air as the strange warrior bobbed and wove imperceptibly around every attack.

As Minako's inertia began to bleed off, the stranger made her move. The senshi launched one last roundhouse kick at the woman's face with the last of her forward momentum. The mysterious warrior's hand bolted up, caught the senshi's leg just above the ankle, and stopped the powerful kick dead cold.

The stranger's smile vanished. Her fingers tightened like miniature hydraulic presses, each one crushing into Minako's shin. "That all you have? People here has strange ideas of what fighting is. You in luck. I show you."

Minako felt herself being pulled off balance once more as the woman exploded into motion. The one leg still on the ground was the first thing to go. The poor blond didn't even have time to recognize the leg sweep before she found herself suspended horizontally in the air.

As gravity tried to take hold of her, the young woman's exposed flank was subjected to a punishing shower of tightly clenched fists. The devastating assault was concluded with an axe kick that denied gravity its prize, forcing the abused Senshi to the ground with terrible force.

For the second time that night, Minako struggled to get her battered lungs to obey her as darkness crept into the edge of her vision. Her assailant waited patiently as she gulped down air, the woman's slippered foot still pinned her to the ground.

"You ready to talk now, or you need another demonstration?" The stranger scowled down at the fallen Senshi.

Minako focused through the pain, snapped her hands around the woman's leg, and twisted to the side for all she was worth, throwing a sweeping kick as she rolled. The Senshi's foot made violent contact with the other woman's leg, sending the stranger falling backwards.

The blond's elation was short lived, however, as the woman managed to turn her fall into a handspring that put her well out of range of any follow-ups. Still, it bought Minako enough time to pull herself back to her own feet.

The two young women squared off once again. Minako tried her best to look fierce, but the blood still trickling from her broken nose was probably ruining the effect.

Suddenly the stranger darted forward. The senshi of Venus braced for the impact. The gap between the two began to close. This was going to-

"Shining Aqua Illusion!" A crushing column of water slammed into the pavement between the two women, freezing into a bristling circle of ice as it broke, and forcing the stranger to abort her charge.

Both combatants looked up to the alley wall, to the source of the impressive attack. There, resplendent with power, stood the sailor suited senshi of Mercury, pointing a wickedly barbed sword of ice at the purple haired barbarian.

"I think that's quite enough! I won't let you continue to torment innocent people. In the name of Mercury, you shall be punished!"

* * *

Xian'Pu sprang away from the freezing torrent, ran a few steps along the alley wall, and came to rest next to the silly blonde woman who was stupid enough to challenge her. The road behind her was encased in a cascade of icy barbs. Damn it, why did it always have to be water?

The Joketsuzoku warrior turned towards the source of the attack. Standing on the promontory of one of the ruined buildings was a proud and magnificent huntress. Power poured from the radiant being in palpable waves, filling Xian'Pu with a sense of awe and wonder.

"I think that's quite enough! I won't let you continue to torment innocent people. In the name of Mercury, you shall be punished!"

Xian'Pu looked from the ascendant being to the weak blond girl she'd been toying with. The blond flashed a malicious smirk and backed away a few steps, apparently very much at ease in the radiant presence of the mysterious warrior.

"Um… oops?" The young Joketsuzoku warrior chuckled weakly and began to creep slowly back towards her spear. The figure stared down at her with an icy gaze. Now that's what a demon hunter was supposed to look like. Maybe the two girls Xian'Pu attacked were her servants? Whatever the case, the avenging goddess didn't look at all happy right now.

"Shining Aqua Illusion!" Once again, a deluge of freezing water burst towards Xian'Pu. This one continued to follow her as she evaded wildly, bouncing off the alley walls in an effort to stay ahead of the blast. In her wake, the potent attack left an impressive gauntlet of jagged ice.

The Joketsuzoku warrior's mad flight through the alley ended as she snagged the shaft of her spear and leaped to the top of the building farthest from the enraged demon hunter. The icy trail of destruction followed her up the wall and splashed over the short lip of the roof as Xian'Pu rolled for cover.

Well, this was turning out to be a wonderful day. Her wayward groom had no doubt gained some serious ground, she'd been forced to sit and watch nothing happen on an abandoned street all day, and to top it off now she had an irate demon hunter to deal with. This country sucked.

Xian'Pu hazarded a quick glance over the edge of the roof only to duck for cover as the huntress below peppered the side of the building with more shards of ice. Damn it, it didn't look like the woman was in much of a talking mood. Maybe it would be a good idea to let her cool down a bit.

Xian'Pu backed away from the short wall and began to ease herself towards the far end of the roof. As she moved, she slipped her horn-bow off her shoulder and readied an arrow. Getting into a fight with someone who hunted demons for a living was never a good idea, but the Joketsuzoku warrior would be damned if she died over this little misunderstanding.

The icy huntress sailed over the edge of the roof in a blur. Xian'Pu loosed her arrow. The deadly projectile whistled through the air. Faster than her eye could track, her opponent lashed out, deflecting the missile so it sailed harmlessly into the darkness beyond.

The frozen gaze of the demon hunter bore down on the young warrior. The woman's arm snapped forward as she uttered her potent incantation once again. Xian'Pu broke, scurrying across the rooftops in erratic flight.

Mercury stared out into the night, following the path of the strange woman who'd attacked them. Who was she? Why was she so interested in this battle? What did she know about the monster Hotaru and the boy had fought? Mercury frowned as she reached up to touch the sapphire gem of her earring. Blue light flooded her vision, banishing the darkness and highlighting the fleeing form of her assailant.

The Senshi of Mercury turned as Venus landed beside her. The blonde warrior absently rubbed at her face, smearing a trail of blood from her nose to the edge of her cheek. "Are you alright?"

"Nothing an ice pack and some foundation won't fix." The senshi of Venus looked around. "Hey, where'd the psycho go?"

Mercury pointed towards the highlighted form racing across the distant rooftops. Her companion wouldn't be able to see the woman, but it didn't matter. "She's about a kilometer in that direction and moving fast. She'd probably have made it farther if she wasn't zig-zaging so much."

"Damn! We'll loose her!"

Mercury smiled. "No rush. She's got my computer with her. I could probably find her anywhere in Japan."

Venus frowned. "Shouldn't we be worried about getting it back? I mean, couldn't she use it to, you know, get information about us or something?"

"No," the Water Senshi shook her head. "I doubt she could manage to get through its security systems. Besides, I could just summon the computer back if I needed to."

"Okay, so if we're not in a big hurry to grab her, what, exactly, are we doing?"

Mercury shrugged. "I don't know about you, but I'm a bit tired of the long defense strategy. Aren't you curious to know where she's going and how she's connected to all of this?"

"Oh, I get it!" Venus grinned. "This way we can find out what's going on and maybe get on the offensive from the start! Good thinking!"

* * *

Hotaru stumbled through the halls of her home, making her way wearily towards the guest bedroom. Stupid nightmares… It's not like she hadn't been in worse fights. Why did this one have to keep her from getting a good night's sleep?

The young woman leaned against the hallway wall for a second, pulling her comforter around herself more tightly. Curse Setsuna-mama for tempting her. Yeah, curling up in bed with the boy kept her from having nightmares, but how the hell was she supposed to sleep knowing that he was right there, practically touching her! Every time she moved, she bumped up against him, and then she'd notice how warm he was, or how smooth his skin was, or how cuddly he looked. She'd spent two hours lying there trying not to move and reprimanding herself for having naughty thoughts. It was the exact opposite of restful.

Then Haruka-papa had walked in. Why couldn't her adopted guardian have been more like a normal father and just freaked out? Instead the blasted woman just started laughing uncontrollably. Honestly, shouldn't she have been yelling about the inappropriateness of it all?

Of course, when the woman walked in, what she found was Hotaru lying stiff as a board on the very edge of the bed with eyes the size of saucers and a blush that went to her roots. It probably was a pathetically funny site. The girl sighed. Apparently even her parents thought the idea of her and the boy as a couple was a joke.

Hotaru picked up her feet and began wandering back down the hall like a zombie. Of course by lunch Haruka had told Michiru. That had been a fun meal. Sly winks, elbow nudging, and jokes at Hotaru's expense all over a bowl of soba. At least the food had been good.

The girl finally shambled to the guest bedroom door and began to fumble with the handle. Cursed thing… Why did they even bother closing it anyways? Finally the latch turned and the door swung open, spilling a bar of light across the foot of the boy's bed.

Hotaru let out a sigh of relief. After lunch she'd decided to try and sleep in her own bed. It didn't go very well. Here it was, six hours later, and she'd probably only gotten two hours of sleep. Every time she got close, she'd have that dream again, the one with the yellow eyes and the dead hands and the blood and the screams of all of her friends. The Senshi of Saturn shook off the memory. It would be best to put thoughts of the dream out of mind.

Hotaru stumbled into the room on auto-pilot. It looked like she had a long night on the rocker to look forward to. Hotaru dragged her feet over to the infernal chair and stared at it.

Maybe it would be best to just fold the comforter up and use it as a cushion. It was warm enough in the house that she could make do without the blanket, and if it got to be too much, she could just go back to her room and get some sweatpants or something.

Hotaru pulled the comforter off her shoulders and began to fold it up and position it on the seat of the rocker. A slight draft raised some goose bumps on her bare legs and the girl shivered.

Maybe she should just go back and get those sweatpants to start with. Hotaru bent over to tuck the edges of the blanket down through the arms of the chair as she thought. After all, if her Haruka-papa found her sleeping in here with nothing but a threadbare camisole and pair of cotton panties, she'd probably never live it down. And besides, what if-

"Um… hi…"

The flood of adrenaline banished Hotaru's sleepy haze in a heartbeat. Slowly, the girl glanced back over her shoulder. Sure enough, there sat the boy of her dreams, studiously trying not to look at her exposed backside. The girl swallowed a lump in her throat. Heat spread across her cheeks. "Oh, you're awake."

* * *

Author's Notes-

Yeah, I know it's a mean place to leave everyone hanging, but I wanted to get this thing out. It's been a pain in the butt of a chapter for some reason.

The bad news- the chapter updates will probably be slowing down just a little bit. My wife is getting tired of me spending all my time writing fan-fiction. I'm still going to try and hit at least one chapter every two weeks. If you want anything faster, leave lots of reviews. They really do inspire me to get off my lazy butt and write.

Also, if you're interested, I drew a picture to go with the story. You can find a link to it on my author's page here. Hope you enjoy.


	5. Chapter 5

Quiet Magics 5

Boy meets Girl

Thu-thump.

Thu-thump.

Thu-thump.

What the hell was that damn noise? Ranma turned his head into his pillow to try and drown it out, only to have the infernal rhythm interrupted by a mind splitting ring.

Instantly, the boy bolted up in bed. His stomach rolled as he failed miserably to find equilibrium and a million aches suddenly demanded his attention. His breath caught in his throat as he swallowed the cry of agony that had attempted to escape his burning lungs.

Through the myriad of pains that vied for his attention, Ranma tried to focus. The process made his brain hurt. He tried breathing deep, slow breaths; tried emptying his mind. Slowly the overload of sensations began to quiet. His lungs still ached with every breath, and he could feel himself overcompensating for the vertigo that held him, but gradually his mind began to clear.

Moving was very _bad_. It was the first idea he was able to hold onto clearly. A concussion… is that what this was? Ranma focused on the idea, trying to make it stick in his churning mind. He'd had many concussions before. Nausea… dizziness… that damned ringing in his ears… Yes, this was a concussion.

Putting a name to the problem helped to lessen its hold on him. Thoughts came a bit easier. Memories floated to the surface. There'd been a fight. Some monster was tangling it up with one of those magical girls he'd heard about. He'd gotten involved. Man that was a close one… lucky to be breathing at all.

Okay, so how bad was the damage? This had to rank up there in the top five worst concussions of all times, that was for sure. What else though? Breathing hurt… that wasn't the head wound. …cracked ribs? …maybe broken? Yeah, probably. Everything else hurt too… not too bad though… cuts, bruises, a few nasty burns.

Ranma tried once more to focus his mind. Ki manipulation was hard when you were suffering the mother of all headaches, but if he could meditate properly it would speed up his recovery considerably. Ranma's awareness struggled through the currents of his abused body, tugging at his life force; urging it into a more useful flow. Man, he was really wiped out. That last blast must have really been something. Still, a bit of rest and some serious food and he'd be back up to fighting form in no time. A few days… a week tops. No problem.

Did he have a week? Ranma hazarded opening one bleary eye. Opening your eyes was always a risk when you felt this bad. Bright lights, loud noises, they didn't help with the headache at all.

Oh good, it was dark. Ranma opened his eyes and let them adjust. He was in a bed… soft one too. That was a good sign. Someone had even gone through the effort of strapping up his injuries. Wasn't Kasumi or Tofu though… too tight in some spots, too loose in others. Not bad really, just not exactly a practiced level of care. Unless he had the world's worst nurse, he wasn't in a hospital or doctor's office.

Some of the details of the room began to seep through the haze of darkness and blurred vision. There were a lot of greens and browns in the room… very gender neutral. Even the artwork was kind of neutral. A few ink scrolls of bamboo gardens… A painting of Mount Fuji… Not bad stuff really, but it didn't give a lot of clues as to where he was. It was the kind of room just about anyone could be comfortable in.

Wherever he was, though, it was a big place. This room was just about half again the size of the guest bedroom at the Tendo's. Still, it begged the question; why the hell was he in this place?

Light suddenly flooded the room. Ranma attempted to shield his eyes from the relentless beams, but to no avail. Even if his night vision had survived the sudden illumination, it would still take a few seconds to focus past the needles of pain that the assault left lancing through his brain.

Thudding heartbeats drummed by as vision slowly returned. The view wasn't one the boy expected.

Panties. A petite set of white cotton panties with little stars all over them to be precise; wrapped around the equally petite bottom of a much underdressed young woman.

Ranma stared. He shouldn't have. God knows, nothing good could come of this. Any minute now the scantily clad girl would turn around and pound him flat for even being in the same room. With the shape he was in right now, the girl's stupid feminine outrage would probably put him six feet under.

She didn't turn around. No, what she did was bend over farther. It did very interesting things to the narrow strip of star spangled fabric running between her legs. The thin cotton slid over the juncture, teasingly suggesting at what was hidden beneath.

Damn it, he should be looking away. Maybe if she saw that he had his head turned, she wouldn't kill him outright. What he definitely should _not_ have been doing was letting his eyes glide over the rest of her. Maybe if he hadn't, he wouldn't have noticed that her obscenely flimsy top covered absolutely nothing from this angle.

He certainly had bigger when he was a girl, but there was something about the way the swells of her pert breasts swayed as she tugged at whatever she was focused on that was just hypnotic. Somehow Ranma managed to pull his eyes away from the taboo spectacle long enough to get a glimpse of her profile. Oh damn… It was _her_.

Ranma's head jerked away to find something, anything, to look at besides the nearly naked girl. If she caught him ogling her, she might go get that nasty pole-arm of hers, and then that'd be the end of one Ranma Saotome. Damn his cursed luck. Why did things like this always have to happen to him?

Okay, calm down. She didn't see anything yet. He'd just continue to look away and hope she left without noticing he was there. Yeah, fat chance of that happening.

Plan 'B' then… Got to make sure she knows he's not trying to look. Maybe he should do something to let her know he's awake?

"Um… hi."

The girl froze. Man this had to rank as one of the stupidest ideas he'd ever had. Get her attention and hope she notices you aren't trying to stare at her smooth, soft… Oh, he was a dead man.

Out of the corner of his eye, Ranma noticed her head slowly turn. Her huge, expressive eyes were painted in horrified mortification. Maybe he'd get lucky and she'd actually die of embarrassment before she could kill him.

"Oh… you're awake." The woman straightened herself woodenly, pulling the blanket she'd been fighting with up to cover herself. Even in the darkness, Ranma could see her face flush. Self-consciously she broke eye contact. Damn, had he been looking the whole time?

"I… I didn't… I mean… I wasn't trying to…" Shit. If this didn't come out right, he was going to get eviscerated for sure. Ranma took a deep breath. "What I'm tryin' ta say is I wasn't tryin' to peek at ya or nothin'." The boy managed to look away then. He'd have been scratching the base of his pigtail if it didn't hurt so bad to move.

The girl's flush deepened so much she practically glowed in the dark room. Her mouth opened and then closed again several times as though she were trying to speak, but couldn't. Finally she took a deep breath herself. "I'm sorry, I… Excuse me." She bowed low and backed out of the room awkwardly, her eyes still firmly focused on her feet.

Ranma shut his eyes again as she opened the door and slipped out. Well, that wasn't too bad… unless she was just going to get a dining room table to smash over his head or something. Crap.

Ranma scanned the room, looking for some means of escape. There was a window. For a second the young warrior contemplated crawling over to it and pitching himself out. If it wasn't too high, he might survive the fall. He'd have better odds than he would against that girl's pointy silver stick anyway. The boy made an effort to pull himself to the edge of the bed, only to stop as his head, stomach, ribs, and pretty much everything else protested at the movement.

Well shit. This just figured. He always knew he'd die like this, he just figured it'd be one of the fiancées that did the deed. Probably Akane… not that the others were any better really, it was just that Akane seemed to have more opportunity. Ranma lay back down. If this was the end, then he was at least going to be as comfortable as possible for it.

A soft knock sounded at the door before it creaked open a few centimeters. "Hello? Can… can I come in?"

Ranma took some cleansing breaths. "Uh… Depends. Ya didn't go get pole-arm of yours, did ya?"

Silence reigned for several seconds. What the hell was taking her so long? If she had it, she should have just come in and started sticking him with it. If she didn't, all she had to say was-

"…no."

Huh. This wasn't usually the way these things went. "Ya aren't plannin' on clobberin' me over the head with a table or nothin', are ya?"

"Um… no. I… I just wanted to talk." Talk? That was it? He'd been mesmerized by her swaying breasts and all she wanted was to talk? Just trying to process the oddness of the thought made Ranma's brain hurt. Was that her plan? Was she going to try and make his head explode with confusion?

"Yeah, okay. I guess ya can come in."

The girl crept back into the room, still refusing to look at anything but the floor. She'd put on a pair of black sweatpants and a really old, oversized pink tee-shirt with a faded unicorn design that hadn't managed to peel off yet. Absently, Ranma noted that the material was still way too thin to be decent. He could see the way it clung gently to the curves of her br… Shit, what the hell happened? She wasn't this damn distracting in the mini-skirt.

"I… I'm terribly sorry." The girl began fidgeting with the hem of the over-sized shirt. "I'm not usually… That is I don't normally go around wearing nothing but… I… You see, I didn't know you were awake."

Ranma sat stunned, looking at the blushing girl as though she'd grown a second head. Had she just apologized to him? That wasn't how this was supposed to go. Her blush deepened so hard Ranma was afraid she might burst a blood vessel. Better say something.

"…um, yeah. No problem."

The girl released a huge sigh of relief and slumped into the old rocking chair next to the bed. Long minutes passed in the dark. As she toyed nervously with her nightshirt, she'd glance occasionally up through her dark bangs at the boy, but every time their eyes met she'd quickly lower her gaze again. "So, um… I'm Hotaru."

"I'm Ranma…" He continued to stare at the girl as though she were some strange alien creature. Why the hell wasn't she calling him a pervert and beating him to death?

The girl continued to squirm under his scrutiny. "H… How are you feeling?"

Interesting question… His head hurt, he was dizzy, his lungs burned with every breath, he couldn't move without wanting to vomit, every part of him ached, and he was pretty sure he needed to pee. "…been worse I guess. Some aspirin wouldn't hurt though."

"Right, aspirin! Of course!" The girl bolted up. Just following the sudden motion made the damn ringing in Ranma's ears sing louder.

Hotaru hurried over towards the large vanity on the far side of the room and fetched a tumbler of water and a small medicine bottle. She returned to the bed and offered the drink. "Do you think you'll need help? I could hold the glass for you if you want?"

For the first time since she'd run out of the room, the girl actually managed to look Ranma in the eye. Twin pools of violet concern shone in the darkness. It was such an odd expression she had. Akane had looked that way a few times… It never lasted though. Usually he'd open his mouth and say something and she'd get angry and that would be the end of it.

"I'll be fine." Ranma began to force himself up to a sitting position. Not a good idea. He'd be damned if he was going to let her see him all weak and helpless though.

"A… are you sure?" The girl put the cup and bottle down on the rocker and moved to help Ranma sit up.

"Wait! No!" The boy jerked reflexively at the contact, sending another wave of vertigo washing over him. "…damn that hurt," he hissed through gritted teeth. Ranma took a few strained breaths to collect himself. "I… I've got it, thanks."

Hotaru backed up a few paces and averted her gaze. "I… I'm so sorry." Apparently she didn't know what to do after that though, because she immediately began fidgeting.

Oh great, here she was, just trying to help, and he had to go and upset her. Now he just felt like an ass. "Look, I didn't mean…" Ah man, why couldn't she just pound him and walk off in a huff like everyone else? "I didn't mean to… I'm just… I'm fine. Really. It helps to move around a bit, that's all." Yeah, if by 'help' he meant 'makes me want toss my lunch'.

Reluctantly the girl nodded. "Okay." She moved back to the rocker, retrieved the water, and nervously waited for Ranma to get himself into a sitting position.

Several minutes and a splitting migraine later, Ranma managed to prop himself up against the oak headboard with a pillow shoved awkwardly behind him. He was sweating, honestly _sweating_, at the effort. Yeah, that didn't make him seem weak and helpless at all. Ranma sighed in exasperation and turned to look at the girl.

She'd averted her eyes again. Ah man, the poor thing looked absolutely miserable. "You… uh… Maybe you could help with the water… if ya really want to." Ranma blushed at the lame offer. Big, damn, purple puppy-dog eyes… They should be considered a lethal weapon. They were a hell of a lot worse than Akane's stupid mallet, that was for sure.

Hotaru nodded and shuffled over to the edge of the bed. "Um, here…" She blushed again as she held out a couple of little white pills. Ranma took them from her and tossed them into his mouth only to begin gagging almost immediately on the bitter, chalky things.

Hurriedly the girl leaned over with the cup, trying to support Ranma's neck as she tilted the glass at his lips. Ranma took greedy gulps, trying to wash the foul taste out of his mouth. The girl tipped the glass farther, trying to keep up with his thirst. Unfortunately she was a little too fast.

* * *

Hotaru stared. The now empty glass fell from numb fingers. It clattered against the hardwood floor, rolling under the bed. The girl didn't even notice.

The boy had twitched when she'd spilled. Somehow, in the course of that tiny spasm, he'd changed. He was shorter now, and the hard angles of his body had smoothed… and he had breasts; huge, obvious, straining at the bandages, breasts! He was a girl!

Hotaru backed away slowly, unable to take her eyes off of the changed form in front of her. What on earth had she done? The girl looked down at the bottle in her hand, trying to read the label in the moonlight. It said Excedrin, just like it was supposed to. She'd taken a couple just a few hours ago herself, and they certainly hadn't given her a chest like that!

The girl lowered herself into the rocker mechanically, unable to focus. Hotaru cast a nervous glance back at the still groaning redhead that was lying in the bed where her heroic rescuer had been. Apparently the change hadn't been good for the boy… er girl's injuries. The stranger hissed through gritted teeth in pain.

Who was she? How did this happen? Was she even still- "…Ranma?"

The beauty in question turned her head ever so slightly to catch Hotaru's eyes. "…yeah. It's still me," she hissed. "Don't go screamin' or nothing, okay? I don't think my head could take it right now."

He… she didn't seem that panicked. Was she always like this? No… no, somebody would have noticed those things… Hell Hotaru remembered clearly being pressed up against a very manly chest just the other night. "Ranma, H… how?"

The boy turned girl leaned back against the oak headboard and closed her eyes. "Long story…" The girl struggled to control her breathing, jamming her words between short, even gasps. "It's a curse. Picked it up in China… few years back. Makes me change shape."

A curse? It made sense in a twisted sort of way. After all, to be as powerful as he was, Ranma had to have been exposed to strange and arcane magics somewhere. The senshi obviously weren't the only ones in the world with access to such powers. "Does it always hurt like that?"

Ranma shook her head, still grimacing in pain. "Nah. The bandages are just a bit too tight around the chest in this body is all. It ain't easy on the ribs."

"Oh." Hotaru was at a loss. How was she supposed to fix this? Maybe Usagi, or even Chibiusa could do something for the… person, but the only thing Saturn's power was good for was destruction. She didn't even have enough strength right now to heal _normal_ injuries.

"Hey, don't worry about it." The redhead was trying to smile at her. "I'm used to it. It's okay, really."

Hotaru sat staring at the girl, trying to process what was going on. What had caused the change? How did he change back? Would he even want to change back? Hotaru sighed. For all she knew, the boy was actually a girl. What if this was Ranma's natural form? "Do… do you need any help? Would you like to change back?"

The redhead shrugged. "Probably not a good idea. I don't want nothing shiftin' around inside by accident." The girl got ready to move, but stopped herself. "Maybe, um… I don't suppose ya'd mind… That is, if ya'd really like somethin' to do, then I guess maybe you could help adjust these wrappings?" Ranma mumbled, looking away.

Hotaru smiled. That she could do. She'd been pretending to be a nurse since she was six. Lord knows she'd bandaged up enough of her old dolls and stuffed animals back in the day. Gently, Hotaru helped the petite redhead sit up so that the would-be nurse could slide behind her on the bed.

As soon as the young woman began to examine the bandages, she could see what was causing Ranma so much pain. The little metal tabs that held the woman's chest wrap in place were taut with tremendous pressure. Ranma grunted a few times as Hotaru tried to tease the little metal teeth of the clasps free of the bandage.

With one final nudge the tiny tabs gave way, shooting across the room at high speed as the elastic released its strain. Hotaru jerked away gasping. Ranma sucked in greedy gulps of air. Then the wrappings fell away.

Coils of bandage slid down the petite redhead's body, pooling around her waist. Hotaru caught herself staring again, tracing the curve of the busty woman's neck down past tiny shoulders, all the way to the small of her finely sculpted back. The heavy curve of the woman's feminine charms peeked around her profile in the moonlight.

Hotaru reminded herself to breathe as her eyes swept over the other woman's flawless ivory skin. Almost of their own volition, the girl's fingers hesitantly traced the edge of her companion's shoulder blade as though testing the reality of the ethereal vision. Ranma immediately tensed at the unexpected contact.

The young woman's hand darted back as though burned. "…I'm sorry. I…" Had she just been enthralled by the site of another girl's naked back? Hotaru tried to shake off the strange sensation. "We should probably get you wrapped back up."

"…yeah." Ranma remained tense, her posture stiff and awkward.

Hotaru bit back a curse. What on earth had she been thinking? Touching the other woman like that, looking at her like that, it was way beyond inappropriate. Of course Ranma was uncomfortable. The young Senshi tried to occupy her guilty mind with the task of bandaging the other woman. It didn't take more than a single pass around Ranma's waist to realize the terrible flaw in that plan.

Hotaru found her thoughts interrupted when she noticed that, as she adjusted the bandage, she had wrapped her arms completely around the redhead's body. It was an odd sort of embrace. They weren't really touching, but Hotaru had her chest close enough to Ranma's back that she could feel the heat rising off the other girl's skin. The young senshi held her breath, realizing that it was causing the wispy hairs at the base of the other girl's pigtail to sway lightly with each exhalation.

Ranma was still as stiff as a board. Hotaru backed away slowly and turned her furiously blushing face towards the far wall. "How about you do the wrapping and I'll just pass the roll around your back?"

The boy turned girl breathed a deep sigh of relief as the tension began to abate. "Yeah, good idea."

The two worked in awkward silence for the first few passes. This was just awful. He… she… This sort of thing must happen all the time for… Hotaru still didn't know which pronoun to use. She couldn't even _think_ about her rescuer without being horribly confused. How on earth did Ranma live with this day in and day out? "It… It must be really hard for you. The curse I mean."

The redhead sighed. "It's gotten easier I guess. It was bad for a while, right after it first happened, but I've kinda gotten used to it. The only part that really still bugs me is when guys start checkin' me out when I'm like this."

Hotaru nodded in the darkness, murmuring her understanding. So, he was a boy then. Even if he wasn't interested in her, the knowledge gave her some sense of relief. It wasn't that the young senshi had any difficulties with alternative relationships really, her current guardians at least gave her some frame of reference for that sort of thing, but the last few minutes had been more than a little unsettling. None of the other women in Hotaru's life had ever evoked such an intense response.

The bandage made its last pass around the redhead's chest. Hotaru pulled it snug and tied it off in silence. The curse had been a shock, but on some level the young senshi found it humorously ironic that her savior had been a magical girl, at least technically. Idly Hotaru wondered if Ranma kept his alternate identity a secret just like her family did theirs. The question remained, though; was her identity still a secret?

Ranma hadn't been all that surprised when Hotaru introduced herself, almost like he'd expected her to be the one who'd taken him in. He should have been asking her where he was or how he'd gotten here. Instead he'd asked her about her pole-arm. He must have seen her change.

What if he didn't though? Hotaru slid out from behind her patient and sat herself in the rocker next to the bed. She turned towards the cursed individual again, trying to peer into the young… man's mind. Ranma had moved back towards the headboard, letting it support him. Haunting blue eyes stole quick, nervous glances towards the young senshi now and then, but whatever thoughts were churning in the stormy orbs chose to remain hidden.

How could she ask him what he knew without revealing herself if he actually knew nothing? What would happen if he did know? How would Haruka-papa and Michiru-mama react? Would they be willing to trust such clandestine knowledge to a stranger? Would they try to eliminate him as a potential threat? Her adopted parents had been remarkably tolerant thus far, but how much were they willing to risk?

"…look," Ranma whispered, "If it really bothers ya that much, I can change back."

Hotaru could hear the pain hidden beneath the words. She stared at the redhead, perplexed. Why would Ranma think she was… Oh!

"No! No it's not that! I just… I…" Damn. What was she supposed to say? How long had she been sitting here worrying about her stupid secret identity while he'd been thinking that she was upset by his curse? "I… Ranma, what do you remember about how you got here?"

The boy turned girl winced in pain as she twisted her neck to get a better look at the young senshi. The poor er… _man_… looked completely confused.

"Everything I guess. You were fightin' some crazy monster. I jumped in to help out. We got stuck in that bubble of yours… then things kinda got really nasty. Next thing I know, I'm here."

The blood drained from Hotaru's face. He knew. Oh Serenity preserve, he _knew_. The others would… well, maybe not kill him, but they certainly wouldn't let this stand. There'd be a fight at least, and no matter which side won, she'd be the one to lose. "You… You saw? I mean, you know it was me?"

The redhead nodded slightly. "Yeah, of course. I mean, it was kinda hard to focus on all the little details at the start of the fight, but once that whoppin' aura of yours started to fade… I wasn't supposed to see that, was I?"

Hotaru shook her head. "No." This was bad. This was very, very bad. When the others found out… "Ranma, you can't tell _anyone_ about this. You need to promise me! Don't tell my family, or my friends, or anyone, ever!"

Ranma shook her head. "Then how are we gonna explain-"

"You tell everyone you were knocked out in a fight." It would have to be a lie. The others could never know that he'd found out. "Tell everyone that I told you Saturn brought you here to be cared for by people she trusted. They won't ask any questions. It'll work."

"But…"

"Please!" Hotaru stared at her companion, praying for him to accept. She didn't mind begging if that's what it took. This was the only way she could keep everyone from fighting; the only way to keep someone she cared about from getting hurt.

The redhead looked away. "…fine. I don't like lying though, so this better be important."

Hotaru sagged with relief. "It is. It'll help keep a lot of people safe."

Ranma nodded once, but still wore a scowl. Hotaru felt herself smile ever so slightly. It spoke volumes about the redhead's character that this deception upset her so much. Hotaru would have to add honesty to the ever growing mental list she was making of her savior's virtues.

Said hero rolled his eyes when he caught a glance of Hotaru's grin, but he eventually smirked back all the same. "Well, I guess if it keeps people safe, then maybe I won't complain too much."

Hotaru's smile widened. "Thank you. And since I haven't said it yet, thank you for helping last night too. I… I don't think I'd have managed on my own."

The redhead's smile twisted in roguish merriment, much as it had from the rooftops the previous evening. "Well, I wouldn't have been much of a martial artist if I didn't help out a pretty girl in distress."

"Besides," Ranma's grin slipped as she spoke, "that thing was sent after me, so dealin' with it was my responsibility. I couldn't just let it hurt innocent people, ya know?" The redhead's expression slowly sank into a pensive frown.

It was true. The monster had been after him. It said as much. Hotaru watched the last traces of mirth leave her companion. "Ranma, why was that thing trying to kill you?"

Ranma picked at the linens pooled around her legs. "Don't really know… Happens all the time, though, so I'm used to it at least. Most of the nuts out to get me don't seem to need much reason for it these days."

Hotaru blanched. "You… you fight things like that all the time?" Damn, and here she thought her and her friends were doing a pretty good job keeping a lid on the whole demon invasion thing.

"Nah, usually it's just some nut lookin' for a good fight. Most of the time it ain't serious or nothin'." Ranma fell silent, her gaze peering into some painful memory playing itself out between herself and the far wall. "Last night was different. Last night went too far."

Thinking about last night's fight was upsetting the redhead. So much so, in fact, that Hotaru could practically feel the weight of her companion's dower mood permeate the room. Of course, who could blame Ranma? That creature had been too horrible for words. It wasn't acting alone though. There was still a threat out there. "Who's Happosai?"

Ranma glanced back towards the other girl, a slight scowl on her elfin face. The frosty darkness swirling behind the cursed boy's eyes was too intense to meet for very long. Hotaru looked down, risking only occasional glances at those intense pools of ice. "The demon, it mentioned someone named Happosai. You looked like you recognized the name."

The boy turned away, but his countenance had only grown colder and more lethal. Hotaru felt herself shiver. This was the same cold fury that had stared down a baron of the ninth hell.

"You don't worry about it." The redhead's voice was a soft whisper, a protective shield against pending violence, much as it had been when Hotaru had lain curled in a ball on last night's hellish battlefield. "I'll take care of Happosai. He ain't gonna' be a problem for much longer."

A pit of ice formed in Hotaru's gut. Death was lingering in that promise. The young senshi prayed it wasn't Ranma's.

* * *

Author's notes:

Thanks go out to my pre-readers Ssokolow and Ozz. You guys do a great job of keeping me in line.

Once again, artwork is posted on my writer's profile page on if you care for that sort of stuff.

I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. It was nice to be able to focus exclusively on the interaction of my two lead characters again.

As always, heaps of praise inspires me to get off my lazy butt, and constructive criticism makes me a better writer, so feel free to leave a review.

See everyone in a couple weeks.


	6. Chapter 6

Quiet Magics 6

Shadows in the Night

"Ranma, I'm not sure this is a good idea." Hotaru stood in the hall, talking through the closed bathroom door. Getting to this point had been hell. The petite redhead was a _lot_ heavier than she looked, and she hadn't been very stable on her feet. Twice Hotaru had needed to 'catch' the girl. Both times the young senshi had managed to do little more than break the redhead's fall. It was _not_ a comfortable experience.

The cursed individual really wasn't in any condition to be out of bed, but what were they supposed to do? It was like Ranma said, "When ya gotta go, ya gotta go."

Hotaru put her ear to the door, trying to decipher the sounds coming from within. She prayed the stubborn martial artist wouldn't try negotiating the tile floor without help. Apparently he had a tendency to be a bit stubborn. The senshi suspected it was his self sacrificing nature. He had been so worried the first time he'd fallen on her in the hall. His concern was sweet, really, but sometimes it just wasn't good for him.

"Hotaru?"

The girl jumped at the unexpected voice. Her adopted parents stood in the hallway looking at her curiously.

"Don't do that!" Hotaru took a few calming breaths in an attempt to slow her pulse back down to something reasonable. "It's bad enough when Setsuna-mama surprises me."

Her papa smiled. "Sorry squirt. We didn't realize the bathroom door was that captivating."

"What exactly are you doing anyway?" Michiru asked.

Hotaru looked back towards the bathroom door uncomfortably. How to explain this? "Uh… Ranma, you know, the boy? He woke up and he needed some help… um… you know… getting to the bathroom."

Haruka seemed slightly surprised. "Wow. I'm impressed. I didn't think he'd be moving around any time soon."

"Is he alright?" Michiru asked concerned.

"Well… kind of." Would Ranma be upset with her if she revealed his alter ego? "He… he was really dizzy, but he seemed coherent. Other than that… well… I should probably let him explain when he's a bit more… normal."

Haruka nodded in understanding. "If he's up and walking about after only a day, then that head wound probably wasn't as bad as it looked."

"We should keep an eye on him for a few days though," Michiru considered. "He should be monitored at least until the dizziness passes. At any rate we really shouldn't leave him alone in the house, regardless of his state. Hotaru will have to stay here tonight."

Hotaru looked at her parents confused. "Are you two going out on a date tonight or something? Isn't it a bit late for that?"

Haruka frowned. "Not a date, no. We just got a call from Ami." The blonde father figured glanced at the bathroom door briefly before continuing in a softer tone. "She and Minako were attacked while checking out the scene of last night's incident. It seems they weren't the only ones interested in what happened there."

"A-attacked?" Hotaru shivered. For a moment she felt those horrible yellow eyes burning into her again. "Are… are they okay?"

"They're fine," Michiru replied quietly, "but their assailant got away. We were just on our way to go help with the hunt."

Hotaru nodded, feeling a cold twisting in her gut. Setsuna-mama had deflected her question about a new enemy yesterday. That had all but confirmed the existence of a threat as far as Hotaru was concerned, so this wasn't unexpected. Still, the young senshi was hoping the battles wouldn't start in earnest quite so soon.

Haruka smirked, apparently reading her young ward's concern. "Don't worry, we'll be just fine. From what Ami said it doesn't sound like this is going to take very long."

"In the mean time you'll need to take care of our guest, Hotaru." The aqua tressed senshi rested her hands on the younger girl's shoulders and grinned. "He's probably hungry. We've got some leftovers in the fridge."

The young senshi blushed and glanced over at the bathroom door. She knew her guardians were trying to distract her, but at least they'd hit on a good distraction. "Call if things get bad, okay?"

Hotaru's father figure patted her on the head affectionately as the two older women passed her and moved down the stairs. "We will, don't worry. Just focus on taking care of things here. We'll be back in a few hours."

Moments later Hotaru heard the front door open and close, leaving her alone in the house with Ranma. The young girl felt her cheeks heating up again at the thought and turned once more to the bathroom door. It was now open, revealing a petite and very haggard redhead.

"What was that all about? There another fight brewin'?"

Hotaru took in the flint-like hardness of her companion's eyes. Even as injured as she was, it seemed Ranma was more than willing to throw herself back into the fray.

"It sounds like they've got everything under control, Ranma. They'd have asked me to come with them if they thought it was something serious." At least, Hotaru hoped they would. Neptune and Uranus were excellent soldiers. It was doubtful that they'd take unnecessary risks.

The tension on the young warrior's face bled away with the reassurance. "Right… So, leftovers?"

Hotaru giggled. "Come on, let's see if we can get you to the kitchen."

* * *

Damn infernal contraption! There were no clasps, no buttons, no switches, no locks… how the hell was it staying closed? Xian'pu tried once again to force open the little blue box she'd gotten from the demon hunter's apprentice. Stupid thing wouldn't budge. Maybe it was some sort of puzzle box? Maybe there was a magic word or something? Maybe she could smash the blasted thing open by beating it against a concrete wall?

The young warrior suited thought to action and began slamming the tiny rectangle into the retaining wall that held up the east end of the canal bridge she'd taken refuge under. Stupid demon hunter, she hadn't even given Xian'pu a chance to explain!

Damn it, it was cold and wet under this stupid bridge, and it smelled like piss. Why would anyone choose to live in this noisy, stinking, rat infested city? What the hell was wrong with Japanese people?

Eventually the concrete wall began to crack and flake under the relentless pounding. Of course, the stupid blue box wasn't even scratched. There was no curse in the Joketsuzoku tongue foul enough for these silly outsiders and their stupid technology.

In the shadow of the bridge, Xian'pu slumped to the gravel floor and rested her back against the now battered wall. In front of her the inky flow of runoff surged by. The putrid water must have gathered every disgusting thing in the city because the artificial river reeked of waste and decay. Sometimes it seemed like that was all there was in the land of Wa; an entire race of people wallowing in their own filth. What a loathsome island. Why her love was so hell bent on staying was a mystery she'd never understand.

The young warrior considered the box again. Maybe she could wedge her spear tip in there and pry it open? The woman wrapped her legs around the shaft of the weapon to help steady it, and then tried to force the blade into the almost imperceptible seam that marked the box's lid. Slowly, the edge of the spearhead bit into the strange blue metal. Yes! It would work! She'd get some of the blade in and then she'd have enough leverage for-

Arcs of electrical energy burst from the cursed box and coursed through the young warrior's arms. The whole world seemed to vibrate for a second as every muscle in Xian'pu's body tried to seize up under the assault.

When the strange attack ended the box clattered to the gravel floor, leaving the young woman's teeth rattling in the wake of the onslaught. After a few seconds the trembling abated. Damn stupid electricity! It would take hours to get her hair to settle back down! Xian'pu got back up to her feet, staring murder at the wicked little box.

Still there wasn't even a dent in its pristine blue surface. The damn thing was practically taunting her! Xian'pu could almost hear it laughing at her feeble efforts to harm it.

Oh, that was it! Nobody but noting made fun of a warrior of the Joketsuzoku! The irate woman growled her challenge then punted the stupid box for all she was worth.

The little blue rectangle sailed into the darkness beyond the far bank of the man made river. Only the satisfying crash of the infernal contraption impacting the far retaining wall at near super-sonic velocity gave any clue to its fate. Xian'pu smirked. Let the stupid thing try laughing now.

Of course, it was still probably undamaged, and with her luck, Xian'pu would probably have to dig it out of a jagged little hole to get it back. Ancestors curse her short temper; the stupid box had beaten her again.

Xian'pu let out a sigh and moped towards the bank of the foul river. She was about to jump over when an otherworldly sense of wrongness penetrated her awareness. The woman's eyes turned upward, to the steel infrastructure of the low bridge.

A dark, dripping mass clung to the metal-work, slowly creeping through the shadows above towards the far bank. Xian'pu slunk back towards her spear, keeping her eyes trained on the slithering patch of deeper darkness. How had she missed its approach? Had she really been so distracted?

As the young warrior's hand closed around the heft of her weapon, the dark form broke away from the bridge, falling into the river in moist, disgusting clumps. Ripples spread away from the impact, leaving behind a flawless black mirror.

The first weeds of… concern… began to blossom in Xian'pu's heart. The water was too still, the darkness too quiet. The stench of decay had become too corpse-like. There was evil here.

Near the far shore, a dark mass broke the surface. Slowly the shape resolved itself into a horribly misshapen head crookedly sitting atop a pair of drooping shoulders. As the vaguely man-shaped figure pulled itself out of the water and onto the distant bank, Xian'pu felt her breath catch in her throat.

The _thing_ was horrible. Its charred form was covered in hideous boils, growths, and festering pustules. It poured blood and gore from countless open wounds along its body, polluting the river with a putrid trail of slime. A mass of entrails and molten flesh tangled its legs, giving it a stumbling gait that caused bits of infected debris to tumble off in its wake.

Xian'pu choked back the bile rising in her throat. The creature stopped at the noise. Slowly its head lifted as it sniffed at the air. A lifeless skull turned to focus on the Joketsuzoku warrior. The thing had no eyes… no jaw… no nose… only gaping holes across its face that issued forth a ceaseless flow of blood and vomit.

It was the demon! It had to be! No mortal creature could be so repulsive, so _wrong_! Xian'pu's grip upon her weapon tightened. If her great grandmother was right, this thing had slain many of her ancestors. She should have run. She had sworn to Ku'lon that she would not fight it without her help. Strangely, though, her feet remained rooted.

Damn it, she wasn't a coward! She was a warrior of the Joketsuzoku! She was the most promising fighter of her generation! It would shame every woman of her line to run! The young woman growled deep in her throat. Curse her great grandmother for an overprotective fool!

Xian'pu roared her battle-cry into the night and leaped towards the abomination that had cost her so much this day. The purple tressed warrior soared through the air, cocking her spear for a blow that would send her enemy back to the hell that spawned it.

The horrid creature stumbled back under the awesome force of the young woman's flying charge. The blade of the girl's weapon met the creature's wasted chest and tore through as though rending tissue paper.

Xian'pu's eyes met the bleeding sockets of her foe. The girl grinned savagely at the thing as it numbly drooled a trail of vomit onto its latest wound. She yanked her weapon free of the walking corpse, expecting it to fall lifelessly to the ground.

It didn't fall. The Joketsuzoku warrior stared in morbid fascination at the creature as it continued to stand, studying its chest with its hollow sockets. The hole that had gone straight through the creature's body quickly became lost in the churning ooze of blackened gore that was the thing's flesh. Its vile head rose once more to consider the girl.

Xian'pu slowly backed away. The hideous abomination kept pace, oozing forward on legs nearly lost in dripping gore. The Joketsuzoku warrior cursed under her breath and readied her weapon for another blow. This wasn't good. A quick glance confirmed that she would soon reach the water's edge.

The creature closed. The young warrior thrust her weapon again, piercing the horrid thing's chest once more, adding yet another wound to its ruined form. The creature didn't even bother to defend itself.

Instead the creature flinched, forcing the deformed flesh around the spear to suddenly invert itself. The weapon was expelled with tremendous force, launching its wielder backwards through the air.

Cold water closed around the Joketsuzoku warrior, triggering her curse. Suddenly she found herself trapped in clothing much too large for her now tiny feline body. Survival instincts screamed for her to claw her way to the surface of the water. Damn it, she couldn't fight that monster like this!

The woman turned cat tore herself from her restrictive clothing, broke the surface, and sucked down greedy gulps of air. The shaft of her spear rode the currents of the man made river next to her. She clung to it as though it were a log.

Along the far river's edge, the terrible beast had turned from the confrontation, resuming its course towards the little blue box that Xian'pu had kicked into the darkness. The cat sighed, unable to do more than watch the creature fade into the distance as the river carried her away. Damn, her great grandmother was going to be pissed.

* * *

"Three! How… how is that even possible?"

Ah, there it was; that long familiar look of incredulity. He'd managed to avoid seeing it for a good four months now, but it was bound to show up again just as soon as someone went digging for any specific details about his life.

"Ya know, I'm not even really sure myself anymore. It's all got somethin' to do with suicide contracts, honor duels, an illiterate panda, and okonomiyaki."

The girl across from him began to twitch one of those big, pretty, violet eyes of hers. Ranma wanted to smile at her reaction, really he did, but there just wasn't any humor in this whole messed up thing for him any more. Instead he slurped down another mouth full of noodles.

"You… you're joking, right?" She began her own sickly chuckle. "It's a joke." The poor, sweet girl was looking at him, pleading with her eyes, begging for him to tell her it was all just some twisted gag.

"If it is, then the joke's on me, 'cause it's all true." Poor girl, right now she's probably thinking that she's eating dinner with a mad man. "Look, 'taru, I know it sounds a bit nuts, but that's just the way my life's been… nuts. Everyone I know, everyone I meet, they're all crazy; every last one of 'em. Hell, I'm probably a few kicks shy of a kata myself by now."

And wasn't that the truth. A wise man once said that the only common element in all his dysfunctional relationships was himself… Well actually he read it on a tee-shirt a couple months back, but it still reeked of too much wisdom. Sure, he couldn't see it, but that didn't mean the crazy wasn't there. After all, nobody else seemed to be able to see their own particular brand of wacko… just look at the Kunos.

Hotaru continued to gape, working her jaw like a fish out of water. "Do… do you actually love any of them?"

Now there was the hundred-million yen question. "Not sure." Here it was, nearly three years into the whole mess, and Ranma was still working on that one.

"How can you not be sure?" Wow, she actually seemed like she was more confused than angry. That was new. Most of the women that got to hear this tale had immediately started berating him for leading his 'poor fiancées' on. Maybe Hotaru was in shock.

Still, she asked a perfectly valid question. Hell, he felt like an idiot himself for not knowing sometimes. Fortunately he'd had a few months lately to puzzle out an answer. "Guess the problem is that I don't really know if I wanna' be in love. Never seen anyone in love that was happy with it… seems like it usually just ends up making people miserable."

Hotaru jerked as though she'd been slapped. "Nobody? You've never known anyone in a happy relationship? …at all?"

Ranma had to suck down another load of noodles to keep from laughing at her expression. Rather than embarrassing the poor girl farther he focused on swallowing while shaking his head in the negative.

"What about your parents?"

"Pop took me on a ten year training trip because he thought Mom would make me weak. After the curse we had to keep avoiding her because if she found out, she might make us slit our bellies over a piece of paper I stuck my hand print on when I was six. Even after we managed to sort the whole mess out, pop still eyes her like she might decide to cut his head off. They ain't exactly a ringing endorsement for the institution of marriage."

"Huh… Well, what about friends? There has to be at least one happy couple in all the people you know."

Ranma started laughing. He couldn't help himself. This was just too much. "Hotaru, almost everyone I know is hopelessly hung up on me, either that or the person that they like is hopelessly hung up on me. The closest thing I know to a happy couple is Tofu and Kasumi, and poor Doc Tofu gets so loopy when he thinks about her that he can't act like a normal person, so I'm not even sure she knows he likes her."

"Well… well it's a good thing you're here then, because you can meet my Haruka-papa and Michiru-mama. Sure, they may be an odd couple, but they really love each other, and they make each other happy. I'm sure that once you get to know them, you'll see why people want to fall in love."

Ranma smiled at his new friend. "I hope you're right 'taru. I really do."

* * *

The city stretched out below, the glow of headlights and streetlights and neon signs painting the veiled canyons of concrete with churning pools of brilliant red, green, and orange. Even at this late hour, Tokyo danced with life. From various perches amidst the loftiest towers Makoto had observed the scene countless times before.

Rivers of light flowed with tranquil ease through the corridors of the great monoliths that comprised the city. In time the lights in each distant window would fade as the weary giants of the metropolis finally succumbed to sleep. It was peaceful… orderly… It was also a lie.

Somewhere in drowsy currents below there was a deadly predator, and Makoto and her friends were once more preparing for a fatal game of cat and mouse.

Silent as a specter, Mercury alighted upon one of the lower roofs, scanning the streets below. Makoto smiled in anticipation. The blue haired Senshi had called this hunt nearly an hour ago. All who were able had come, but Makoto could tell that she was the only one who had done so eagerly.

The others would never understand her enthusiasm for these conflicts. They longed for peace, and, honestly, it was a worthy goal. Secretly, however, Makoto prayed it was still a ways off. It had been far too long since she'd truly needed to push herself. Nothing got the blood pumping quite like riding the razor's edge between life and death.

One day peace would come. The world would beat swords into plow-shears and all humanity would unite in brotherhood. When it happened Makoto would go gracefully into retirement and learn to adjust; maybe she'd even open that restaurant she sometimes dreamed about. Until that day, however, her wild heart would run free, racing with excitement at each new impossible challenge. For the moment warriors were still needed, and she would happily answer the call.

In the darkness below, Mercury pointed out their target. The Senshi of Storms tracked the gesture, following it to a thin band of shimmering silver which cut its way through the city straight an arrow. The ward drainage canal… Makoto frowned. Was their new enemy some kind of a troll or kappa or something? What self respecting lord of darkness makes his layer under a canal bridge?

The other senshi began to fan out into the night, cutting off any avenues of escape. Jupiter moved as well, thrilling in the rush of the wind as heart-stopping drops vanished below her in uncanny leaps. Boots kissed the rooftops with barely a whisper and in the space between heartbeats she took flight again. Power… grace… the impossible made commonplace… this was what it meant to be Senshi!

Makoto ended her flight at the top of a streetlight several yards away from the bridge in front of which Ami had come to rest. The Senshi of Mercury seemed a tad confused.

"This is the place, alright, but I'm not picking up anything even remotely like the person who attacked us."

Makoto frowned. The air was charged with energy. She could feel it raising the hair on the back of her neck. Evil was nearby. "Are you sure? I could swear I feel something."

The brilliant young woman below nodded. "Oh, there's a presence here alright, but I can't seem to pin it down, and I'm certain it isn't the woman from before."

Makoto nodded. So, their quarry had been smart enough to ditch the computer they were using to track her. "A trap, you think?"

The blue haired senshi only nodded.

"So, are we going to go spring it?"

Again Mercury nodded. "It might cause nasty problems for someone else if we don't."

"Right," Jupiter nodded. "So, do we have a plan for this, or do we just go in and start blasting?"

"Whatever it is, we'll need to get it out from under that bridge. Do you think you can draw it into the open?"

The storm senshi grinned savagely and began loosening up. "Oh, I think I can manage."

* * *

Ranma eyed the girl sprawled out on the sofa across from him in awe. How was he not dead right now? He'd shown the girl his curse, told her about the whole fiancée mess, hell He'd even seen her in her panties! She should have beaten him to death three times over by now, and yet she'd taken it all perfectly in stride. She hadn't even raised her voice or given him a dirty look. The entire thing was completely unprecedented.

The boy turned girl felt the corner of his mouth turning up. That was a bit unsettling. It meant hope, which also meant the eventual disappointment would hurt so much more. Nobody stayed Ranma's friend for long, so it didn't pay to get attached. But still, as first meetings go, this one was looking pretty good.

Ranma let the smile settle onto his face more comfortably. It wasn't like trying to make a friend just one more time would kill him or anything. Maybe it would be interesting to see where this went. A soft snore from the girl reminded the redhead that for the moment 'this' should probably be headed to a comfortable bed somewhere.

Damn. Why did that thought have to bring back the image of star spangled panties?

Ranma did his best to shake off the blush and then released a long suffering sigh. He'd have to carry her up the stairs. Even after getting some food he doubted he was in any shape for that.

Ranma leaned back into his recliner and closed his eyes. This wasn't going to be easy. Granted, Hotaru couldn't possibly weigh more than forty-five or forty-six kilos, but in Ranma's current state that was still probably more than he could carry.

Ranma frowned. He'd just have to bite the bullet and risk changing back. Possible further injuries be damned; the extra strength of his male body was about the only solution he could think of.

Suiting thought to action, Ranma pulled himself out of his recliner and trudged back into the kitchen, only to notice the empty remains of his late night snack. Wow, he'd really made a pig of himself. Okay, turn on the hot water first, then go collect the Tupperware. That way he could change back and clean up at the same time.

Ranma nodded to himself and set to work. As he moved, images of violet eyes and a shy grin kept creeping into his thoughts. How on Earth was it possible that she was so nice. Even Kasumi wasn't as understanding as Hotaru had been all night. It just wasn't natural. Maybe it was a side effect of the whole magical girl thing? She was cute too... delicate, fragile, sweet...

Ranma clamped down hard on that line of thought. Attraction meant trouble. It would ruin everything for sure. If he kept thinking of her like that he could just forget friendship. Besides, magical power or no, the other girls would demolish her. No way was he dragging Hotaru into that mess. He'd never be able to forgive himself.

Ranma dried his hands on a nearby towel and walked back into the living room. Once more he looked down at his potential friend. Man, that tee-shirt was indecently thin.

Okay, don't think about that. Ranma tried to shake the fatigue from his limbs. Just think about getting her tucked in. Once she was safely in her bed he could go back to the guest room and try to erase the image of her bare breasts from his mind again.

With a grunt, Ranma lifted the sleeping girl into his arms. His ribs screamed in protest as the boy suppressed a hiss of pain. Damn! At least the pain would keep the dirty thoughts at bay for a bit.

Achingly, the boy worked his way up the stairs. Fortunately the girl's room was easy to find. In her haste to put some clothes on earlier, she must have left the door open. Gasping, Ranma dropped Hotaru into the bed, nearly collapsing on top of her.

Seconds passed as Ranma tried to collect his breath. The close proximity of the still sleeping girl made the process much more difficult than it should have been. The boy quickly noticed that her nose was just millimeters away from his own. He could feel her breath dancing across his lips, and he found himself holding his own breath for fear that it would somehow disturb her.

Ranma tried to ignore the intimacy of the situation in favor of assessing his options. Everything felt like it had survived the fall, but it seemed one of his arms was pinned under the sleeping girl's head. Wonderful.

Gently, Ranma tried to ease his trapped arm from it's position without waking Hotaru. His efforts were thwarted as she stirred slightly in her sleep to toss an arm over him.

"Hotaru?" Ranma whispered. "...um, I could use a little help here."

The girl's only response was an indistinguishable murmur as she nuzzled her head into the crook of his trapped arm. Ranma tried once more to extract himself from her embrace, once again to no avail. He'd either have to wake the poor girl up and embarrass her, or he could wait here and hope she rolled over in her sleep.

"Well" the boy sighed, "so much for getting you off my mind tonight."

* * *

Shadows lingered over broken, uneven stones. The gravel was littered with all the various debris that the canal had deposited over the years. Overturned shopping carts, spare tires, even an old refrigerator, they all hung in the darkness like creeping wraiths. A carrion stench wafted up from the murky waters. From above, the river had been a silver band, reflecting moonlight in a merry dance. From here the water seemed more like rancid tar, heavy with the weight of decay.

Jupiter crept farther into the darkness, painfully aware of the familiar, uncomfortable itch between her shoulder blades. Unfriendly eyes were on her, making her skin crawl. In the shadow of the bridge, cut off from the lights of the city, this now seemed like a really bad idea.

The tall brunette glanced back for a moment. The glow of the city wasn't more than ten feet behind her. Three good strides would put her back in view of the others. With a shout, her friends would storm this little alcove like a vengeful flight of Valkyrie. Makoto adjusted her posture and strode farther into the darkness.

Near one of the retaining walls, a metallic glint flashed. It was brighter than the corroded, slime encrusted trash around it. Jupiter moved in that direction, crossing the shadowed corridor.

The Mercury Computer… It was just sitting there on the floor, untouched… like someone had just discarded it absently, like it had drifted down stream with all the trash. The Senshi of Storms circled it wearily, scrutinizing the darkness beyond for some hint of her enemy. Nothing resolved from the shadows. She picked it up.

"Do you see anything?"

Jupiter's head shot up. Mercury stood in the light at the far end of the canal.

"I've got your computer." Makoto relaxed and began walking back towards the light. "Honestly, I'd expected something a bit… I don't know… more. This place really gives me the…"

The look on Mercury's face was all the warning Makoto got. The Water Senshi's eyes widened in horror; her hand came up to stifle a gasp. Makoto twisted around to meet whatever attack her companion had seen coming.

A lifeless skull met her gaze from mere inches away. Charred and bubbling flesh poured around it from above, filling in a grotesque parody of a body even as Makoto stumbled backwards in disgust. She hadn't moved fast enough.

Makoto found herself trapped, like a fly in amber, stuck fast to the sickening gore as it poured down from the iron infrastructure above. The vile creature literally formed around her, smothering her in its bulk. The Senshi struggled to tear herself free from the growing mound, but each thrash only managed to tangle her farther in half-formed limbs and endless coils of entrails.

The churning, diseased flesh edged its way higher along her neck, seeking to engulf her completely. Makoto stretched away from the corrupted mass, horrified beyond rational thought. For one brief second her panicked eyes locked with her companion. Mercury continued to stare in shocked horror, shaking her head in denial of what she was witnessing… and then there was blackness.

* * *

Author's Notes-

Wow, it's been a while. Sorry about that. I'd like to beg forgiveness and promise I won't do it again, but honestly I'm just not finding the time to write that I used to have.

That being said, never fear that this project is being abandoned. I do work on it from time to time. Do expect delays though. Sorry.


End file.
